The National Vital Statistics System

Abstract

The vital statistics system in the United States has always recognized the importance of collecting information about public health. Today, the national vital statistics system in the US is a major cooperative effort between the states and federal agencies. The Vital Statistics Cooperative Program provides for collection of records of births, deaths, marriages, and other events on a national level. Moreover, increasing adoption of modern technology for record keeping and data exchange has resulted in faster and more accurate vital statistics reports. State data, supplemented by surveys administered by the National Center for Health Statistics within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provide fundamental information for use in the arena of public policy and public health practice.In this chapter, we will describe the history of vital statistics in the United States, and examine what data is collected and how collection methods have changed over time. In addition, we will examine the complex relationship between the collection of data at the local and state levels and the aggregation and analysis of the data by the National Center for Health Statistics. This will set the stage for a discussion of the components and uses of the present National Vital Statistics System, including an assessment of the challenges and solutions that the twenty first century presents.KeywordsVital statisticsNational Vital Statistics SystemModel State Vital Statistics ActInternational Classification of DiseaseVital Statistics Cooperative ProgramNational Center for Health StatisticsNational Association for Public Health Statistics and Information SystemsUS Standard CertificatesUS Standard ReportsInterstate record exchangeElectronic birth registrationElectronic death registrationMortality surveillanceState and Territorial Exchange of Vital EventsElectronic Verification of Vital Events