Goals
The goals of the "21st Century Vision for Health Statistics" are to:
Develop a vision for the health statistics system. This vision will be based on a broad view of future trends in health, health care, technology, demographics, and social policy, and will document and articulate a clear statement of the role health statistics can play in addressing these major issues.
Describe and define the disciplines, components, resources, and other elements that are needed to implement this vision, including the roles of the public and private sectors and of organizations at the national, State, and local levels.
Set forth a clear set of criteria and a process for evaluating the health statistics system and its individual components in the 21st century.

Anticipated Products
At the conclusion of this multiyear effort, the sponsors will publish a consensus "vision" report that outlines health information needs, priorities, and how these needs will be met, including the responsibilities of public and private partners. Development of the vision report will also help generate a body of published literature that reflects the best thinking on critical issues facing the health statistics system, and that can be readily referenced and cited. Building on papers commissioned for the vision process and a synthesis of discussions and other input obtained throughout the vision process, an edited volume on "21st Century Health Statistics" will be published.

Summary of the Process
The development of a 21st Century Vision for Health Statistics is being facilitated through a partnership of the National Center for Health Statistics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HHS), the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (the public advisory body on health statistics to the Secretary of HHS), and the HHS Data Council (the internal HHS data coordinating body).

The process seeks to bring together a wide range of individuals and organizations with an interest in health statistics, ranging from professionals involved in the health statistics system itself to users of health statistics in policy, research, and practice settings. To obtain input, a variety of mechanisms are being used including:

facilitated discussion sessions involving experts from various fields; Federal, State, and local officials; data users; and other interested parties;

workshops, including a November 1999 National Academy of Sciences/Committee on National Statistics workshop;

expert papers commissioned to reflect on lessons learned from other countries, from historical successes of selected health statistics efforts, and from case studies of the extent to which recent policy deliberations were adequately informed by statistics;

public hearings held by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics; and

an ongoing dialog about papers, documents, and products through a variety of mechanisms, including publication for comment on vision-related Web sites. The vision development process was initiated in 1999, and will span several years. A final vision report will be available in Spring 2002.

Timeline:
November 1999-March 2000- Forums for input from local and State users of health statistics
Spring 2000- Interim report released
Summer - Fall 2000- NCVHS regional hearings to obtain feedback on the interim report
Winter 2001- Draft vision report
Spring 2002- Final vision report developed
Summer 2002- Edited volume published

A Work in Progress: What We’ve Learned So Far
Broad trends, opportunities, and directions. A number of discussion groups have been convened to date.
Roles, definitions, and responsibilities in the health statistics system. View  detailed summaries of discussion groups by a group of experts on these issues.
Commissioned papers. Five papers were commissioned by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. You may view a more detailed description of each and (when available) read summaries or abstracts of completed papers or read the full text of these documents.

How to Get Involved
Keep up with our progress on this Web site:
Send your suggestions or comment on draft documents at HSVISION@CDC.GOV
Follow the activities of the NCVHS Subcommittee on Populations at http://www.ncvhs.hhs.gov
Keep up with developments at NCHS at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs
Hold a discussion forum in your city or agency using our meeting preparation workbook View/Download PDF 9KB and other materials.