The Public Health Data Standards Consortium is an important vehicle for promoting standardization of information on health and healthcare.  The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) was instrumental in establishing the Public Health Data Standards Consortium (Consortium) in 1999.  The Consortium, which incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 2003, is a national non-profit member-based partnership of federal, state and local health agencies; national and local professional associations; and public and private sector organizations and individuals. Members of the Consortium serve as health data collectors and data users who actively support the overall goals of developing, promoting, and implementing data standards for population health practice and research. The Public Health Data Standards Consortium is committed to bringing a common voice from the public health and health services research communities to the national data standardization efforts.

The National Center for Health Statistics’ role as a founding member of the Public Health Data Standards Consortium is consistent with its leadership in activities related to public health data standards, including classifications, vital registration and health surveys.  NCHS participates as an active member of the standards development organizations, Health Level Seven (HL7), Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12, and the National Uniform Billing Committee (NUBC) to ensure that the data needs of public health and health services research are incorporated within the standards development process.

We hope you will visit and bookmark the new location for comprehensive information about the Public Health Data Standards Consortium at: http://www.phdsc.org/. This URL will also introduce you to the Consortium's Web-Based Resource Center (WRC). The Web-Based Resource Center communicates the complex issues and activities related to data standards that impact public health at the Federal, state and local level.  The WRC includes tools and information to track data integration, standards development and implementation efforts relevant to public health and health services research.