National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS)

The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) is an advisory body to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). Formed in 1949 and restructured following the passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the NCVHS is an advocate for uniform health data sets, particularly for underrepresented populations, and for protecting the privacy of personal health information.

Recent reports from NCVHS have addressed the need to simplify the administrative processes spelled out in HIPAA as well as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, to emphasis the meaningful use of electronic health record (EHR) technology as opposed to just the technology itself, and to expand the use of quality reporting as a means of improving patient care.