Board of Scientific Counselors, National Center for Health Statistics (BSC,NCHS)

Board of Scientific Counselors 
National Center for Health Statistics (BSC, NCHS)
Office of Public Health Scientific Services (OPHSS)

Designated Federal Officer – Charles J. Rothwell, MS, MBA

The Board of Scientific Counselors, National Center for Health Statistics, shall provide advice and make recommendations to the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and the Director, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), regarding the scientific and technical program goals and objectives, strategies, and priorities of NCHS. The board shall provide advice and guidance on statistical and epidemiological research and activities that focus on issues such as: determinants of health; extent and nature of illness and disability, including life expectancy; incidence of various acute and chronic illnesses/impairments and accidental injuries; prevalence of chronic diseases and impairments; infant and maternal morbidity and mortality; nutrition status; environmental, social and other hazards affecting health status; health resources associated with physician and dental visits, hospitalizations, nursing, extended care facilities, home health agencies, and other health institutions; utilization of health care in a broad array of settings; trends in prices/costs and sources of payments; Federal, State and local government expenditures for health care services; the relationship between demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and health characteristics; family formation, growth, and dissolution; new or improved methods for obtaining current data on the aforementioned factors; data security and confidentiality and comparability of data; and standardized means to collect information and statistics. Additionally, the board shall make recommendations about opportunities for NCHS programs to examine and employ new approaches to monitoring and evaluating key public health, health policy, and welfare policy changes, with particular attention to means to automate the collection of data, apply new data processing and analytic tools, and store and disseminate data in a more timely and accessible manner. The board may perform second-level peer review of applications for grants-in-aid for research and research training activities, cooperative agreements, and research contract proposals relating to the broad areas within NCHS.

Charter

Roster

Board of Scientific Counselors, NCHS Website

Meeting Minutes