BIRTH CERTIFICATE

INFORMATION: ITS USE

AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
DELTON ATKINSON, MPH, MPH, PMP
INTERIM DIRECTOR,

STATE CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS

JANUARY 14, 2020

VALUE OF HEALTH INFORMATION

• Information is the essential,

invisible infrastructure upon
which public health and health
policy is built.
Dr. John Lumpkin, Chair
National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics
 ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS OF
HEALTH STATISTICS

• Enables understanding of where we stand as individuals, as subgroups, and

as a society

• Enables us to look at the distribution of health (e.g., disparities)

• Documents our current and past reality

• Identify health trends & anticipate future trends

 USES OF HEALTH STATISTICS

• Create fundamental knowledge about health populations & sub-

populations, and the influences on health & interactions

• Guide policy development, assessment & evaluation

• Help guide implementation, targeting, evaluation & refinement of

health programs/interventions and health decisions
HEALTH STATISTICS ENTERPRISE

• Consists of the infrastructure and the activities or processes

necessary to produce health statistics

• Consists of public and private organizations and individuals at

all geopolitical levels

• National Center for Health Statistics and the NC State for

Health Statistics are part of this enterprise
 ENTERPRISE CHARACTERISTICS

• Focuses on the health of the population

• Serves the public interest and generates products

that are public goods

• Engages in systematic and organized inquiry

 ENTERPRISE CHARACTERISTICS (CONT.)

• Strives for scientific objectivity

• Involves multiple disciplines (e.g., statistics, epidemiology, health

services research, demography, public health informatics, information
technology, and economics)

• Links U.S. efforts to those of international partners in

health and health statistics
BIRTH CERTIFICATE DATA IN THIS
ENTERPRISE
• One of the key administrative datasets in the U.S.

• First used in the U.S. nationally in 1903.

• Improving its timeliness, quality, and usability are national

goals
KEY COMPONENTS OF BIRTH CERTIFICATE

• Legal Portion of the Record

• Child Name
• Date of Birth
• Parents Name
• Address

• Medical Portion of the record

• Birthweight
• Apgar score
• Etc.
LEGAL USES OF CERTIFICATE DATA

• Citizenship
• Proof of age
• Proof of relationship to parents
• Child support services
• Inheritance
• Eligibility for benefits
• Etc.
MEDICAL USES OF BIRTH CERTIFICATE DATA

• Assess the health status of the nation

• Monitor health status
• Variations in health status by socio-economic groups and factors affecting health
• Track progress over time

• Evaluation of the provision of selected health care services,

including allocation of funding to improve health

• Intercensal population estimates

 USES OF BIRTH DATA BY THE
NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS

• One of 14 Federal Statistical Agencies

• Nation’s principal health statistics agency
• Mission: Assess the health status of the Nation
• Leads the national development of accurate, relevant,
and timely data. Done in concert with state partners.
• Provide statistical information that will guide actions and
policies to improve health
 CURRENT USES?

• Release Annual Publications

• Release Data Briefs

• Provides information about current public health topics.

• Summarizes complex data subject in text and graphics, providing

readers with easily comprehensible information in a compact
publication and webpage.

• Released in interactive, searchable, & sortable data table formats

CURRENT USES? (CONT.)

• Promote Intramural Research to:

• Assess health status, trends, etc. in selected areas and on
topics of interest

• Answer evaluative questions about the effectiveness of

programs

• Extramural Research
• Release of public use file for analysis by anyone

• Enable access to confidential birth files through its Research

Data Center (controlled and restrictive process)
BIRTH INFORMATION USED BY?

• Congress and Congressional staffers

• Human-service related Federal agencies such as NIH, HSRA,
Medicare/Medicaid, SSA, etc.
• Census Bureau
• Non-profit agencies such March of Dimes
• Universities and academic researchers
• Research hospitals, universities and academic researchers
• International agencies such as World Health Agencies
• General public
• Etc.
Questions?

Thank you!

Delton Atkinson

919-715-7475
email: Delton.Atkinson@dhhs.nc.gov