Exhibits

This year’s expanded exhibit showcase offers another venue for more detailed insight into survey operations and analyses. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to meet and discuss with exhibitors new initiatives in the fields of health, health data, and statistics. Exhibitors include staff from NCHS, and other federal and nonfederal organizations.

Location and Hours

The Exhibit Hall is located in Grand Salon A–C of the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. The exhibit hours are:

• Monday, August 24 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, August 25 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, August 26 8:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

List of Exhibitors

NCHS Exhibitors

• National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Main Exhibit – Booth no. 101
  Start your 2015 National Conference on Health Statistics experience at the lead NCHS booth. Staff will be on hand to answer your questions and guide you to the latest and greatest that NCHS has to offer.
• NCHS Classifications and Public Health Data Standards – Booth no. 125
  Our group is the focal point for assessing and supporting a wide array of public health data standards by representing NCHS at various standards development organizations and standards related activities, serving as the Head of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for the Family of International Classifications for North America, and serving as the Executive Secretariat to the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. The exhibit displays current and past activities in these areas of health data standardization.
• National Death Index (NDI) – Booth no. 127
  The NDI is a central computerized index of death record information on file in state vital statistics offices. Working with the states, NCHS established the NDI as a resource to aid epidemiologists and other health and medical investigators with mortality ascertainment activities.
• National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) – Booth no. 114
  The NHIS exhibit will offer conference attendees an opportunity to meet staff working on NHIS, see and discuss the Division of Health Interview Statistics’ (DHIS) latest products, and explore products on the Web. NHIS has monitored the health of the nation since 1957. NHIS data are collected on a broad range of health topics through personal household interviews. Survey results have been instrumental in providing data to track health status, health care access, and progress toward achieving national health objectives.
• National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) – Booth no. 113
  NHANES is a program of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The NHANES program began in the early 1960s and has been conducted as a series of surveys focusing on various population groups and health topics. In 1999, the survey became continuous, with a changing focus on a variety of health and nutrition measurements to address emerging needs. NHANES, which is unique in that it combines interviews and physical examinations, examines a nationally representative sample of about 5,000 persons in 15 counties across the country each year.
• Research Data Center (RDC) – Booth no. 122
  The NCHS RDC allows researchers access to restricted NCHS data, as well as restricted data from a variety of groups within the Department of Health and Human Services.
• National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) – Booth no. 123
  NVSS is the oldest and most successful example of inter-governmental data sharing in Public Health and the shared relationships, standards, and procedures form the mechanism by which NCHS collects and disseminates the nation’s official vital statistics. These data are provided through contracts between NCHS and vital registration systems operated in the various jurisdictions legally responsible for the registration of vital events—births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and fetal deaths.
• National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) – Booth no. 124
  NSFG gathers information on family life, marriage and divorce, pregnancy, infertility, use of contraception, and men’s and women’s health. The survey results are used by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and others to plan health services and health education programs, and to do statistical studies of families, fertility, and health.
• Healthy People 2020 – Booth no. 126
  For three decades, the Healthy People initiative has been at the forefront of health promotion and disease prevention in the United States. Healthy People provides a comprehensive set of national 10-year health promotion and disease prevention objectives aimed at improving the health of all Americans. This year’s conference exhibit will focus on Healthy People 2020, which tracks approximately 1,200 objectives organized into 42 topic areas. Recent milestones include more than 3 years of monthly Leading Health Indicator releases, completion of 12 Progress reviews, and initial work on the Healthy People 2020 Midcourse Review, scheduled to publish in Spring 2016. Subject matter experts will be available to discuss all aspects of Healthy People, including developing and tracking objectives, establishing baselines and targets, describing the broad range of data sources used to track Healthy People objectives, programming the data used for monitoring trends and disparities, developing a Healthy People database to store and share data, and data features on the Healthy People website, including metadata, data search, health disparities, and state-level data.
• National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) – Booth no. 115
  NAMCS is a national probability sample survey of nonfederal office-based physicians and community health centers (CHCs) in the United States. Sample data are weighted to produce annual national estimates of visits. The purpose of NAMCS is to meet the needs and demands for statistical information about ambulatory health care that is provided in these settings. Sampled providers must be engaged in direct patient care and include nonfederal physicians who are in office-based practice and advanced practice providers (i.e., physician assistants, nurse midwives, nurse practitioners) who work in CHCs. Research utilizing NAMCS data helps to inform providers, health care researchers, and policymakers about the changing characteristics of ambulatory health care delivery in the nation. The information collected includes data about the patient visit (e.g., demographics, diagnoses, services, and treatments), physician practice characteristics (e.g., practice type, office workforce composition), and the use of electronic health records. Significant changes were introduced in 2012 and included: (a) the use of computer-assisted data collection and (b) the expansion of the NAMCS sample size in order to provide visit estimates for selected states. NAMCS has been the basis for multiple supplemental surveys including the currently fielded National Electronic Health Records Survey which measures progress in EHR adoption and meaningful use among office-based physicians.
• National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) – Booth no. 116
  NHAMCS is a national probability sample survey of nonfederal, general, and short-stay hospitals in the United States. Sample data are weighted to produce annual national estimates of visits to hospital emergency and outpatient departments, including ambulatory surgery. The purpose of NHAMCS is to meet the needs and demands for statistical information about ambulatory health care that is provided in these settings. Research utilizing NHAMCS data helps to inform providers, health care researchers, and policymakers about the changing characteristics of ambulatory health care delivery in the nation. The information collected includes data about the patient visit (e.g., demographics, diagnoses, services, and treatments), hospital characteristics (e.g., geographic region, metropolitan status), and the use of electronic health records. Computer-assisted data collection was introduced in 2012 and has been permanently implemented.
• National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) – Booth no. 117
  NHCS is a new survey that describes national patterns of health care delivery in hospital-based settings, including inpatient, emergency departments (EDs), and outpatient departments (OPDs), including ambulatory surgery. NHCS integrates data collected from the National Hospital Discharge Survey, the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, and the Drug Abuse Warning Network. The integration of these three surveys allows examination of care provided across hospital treatment settings. It will also be possible to link these survey data to external data sources such as the National Death Index to obtain a more complete picture of patient care. Data are collected on hospitals, their patients, and their care to provide national estimates of service use. These data allow health care decision makers, policymakers, and researchers to track the latest trends affecting hospitals and health care organizations, to study relationships between the organization and delivery of health care, and to benchmark hospitals against the national data. A new sample of nationally representative hospitals is being recruited for this survey. Participating hospitals are asked to submit either their electronic health record, UB-04 administrative claims, or state file data on all inpatient discharges and visits to the ED and OPD. Data on hospital characteristics are also collected.
• National Study of Long-Term Care Providers (NSLTCP) – Booth no. 118
  Started in 2012, NSLTCP is a groundbreaking biennial initiative to monitor trends in the provision, use, and characteristics of major sectors of paid, regulated long-term care services in the United States. NSLTCP aims to offer reliable, accurate, relevant, and timely national and state statistical information to support and inform long-term care services policy, research, and practice. NSLTCP uses survey data on assisted living and similar residential care communities and residents and adult day services centers and participants, as well as administrative data on home health agencies and patients, nursing homes and residents, and hospices and patients. NSLTCP provides information about service users (e.g., demographics, assistance with activities of daily living, selected diagnoses, hospitalizations, emergency department use, and falls) and provider characteristics (e.g., geographic region, metropolitan status, staffing, services, operating characteristics, and practices such as use of electronic health records).
• NCHS Employment Booth – Booth no. 103
  Interested in data and statistics? Would you like to become a part of the NCHS team? Discover what opportunities are available and how to apply for them at our booth.
• Social Media at NCHS – Booth no. 104
  NCHS uses social media to provide users with access to credible, science-based health information when, where, and how users want it. A variety of social media tools are used to reinforce and personalize messages, reach new audiences, and build a communication infrastructure based on open information exchange. There are three key attributes of social media channels that are believed to make them highly effective as health communication tools. Find out more about NCHS’s social media initiatives from our own social media experts.
• Ask the Expert – Booth no. 119
  Have detailed questions about NCHS data? Stop by our booth to speak with subject matter experts from all over NCHS. Experts will be scheduled in 1-hour time slots and available to answer your most in-depth questions.
• NCHS Data Visualization – Booth no. 120
  This exhibit offers a platform to interact with NCHS staff who are actively engaged in data visualization activities; to explore the newly launched “NCHS Data Visualization Gallery”, and to exchange ideas on innovative ways to visualize the nation’s health.
• Data Access Tools and Resources – Booth no. 121
  NCHS supports biomedical and health services research by providing researchers with access to important health statistics information and data from our surveys, indexes, and record linkage program. We disseminate public-use data files through interactive tables, online querying tools, and direct download through our FTP file server. Learn about NCHS’ full complement of resources and tools to aid you in your research.
• NCHS History Project – Booth no. 128/129
  The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has launched an initiative that will track important milestones during its 55-year history. NCHS was formed in 1960 with the joining of the National Vital Statistics System and the U.S. National Health Survey, and has as its mission to collect, analyze, and disseminate information on the health of the American population. The NCHS History Project will document and illustrate the Center’s achievements through a series of physical and virtual exhibits.

Other Government Exhibitors

• Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), U.S. Department of Health and Health ServicesExternal – Booth no. 105
  Active and timely health situational awareness provides the foundation for decisions and actions that may result in improved health security for the nation. The ASPR exhibit will share resources on ensuring comprehensive health situational awareness to support decisionmaking before, during, and after disasters and emergencies.
• Food Surveys Research Group, Agricultural Research Service, USDAExternal – Booth no. 107
  The Food Surveys Research Group (FSRG) exhibit will provide demonstrations of the USDA Automated Multiple-Pass Method, the computer-assisted instrument used to collect 24-hour dietary recalls in What We Eat in America (WWEIA), NHANES. Resources for using and understanding dietary data available from FSRG will be on display and highlighted—this will include a search tool of foods and beverages to determine nutrient profiles, WWEIA Food Categories, the Food Patterns Equivalents Database, and 60+ summarized WWEIA data tables. FSRG staff will be available to answer questions.
• Bureau of Justice StatisticsExternal – Booth no. 109
  The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ goals are to collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government.
• National Cancer Institute (NCI)External – Booth no. 110
  The NCI coordinates the National Cancer Program, which conducts and supports research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer, rehabilitation from cancer, and the continuing care of cancer patients and the families of cancer patients.

Nongovernment Exhibitors

• Child & Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative/Data Resource Center (CAHMI/DRC)External – Booth no. 111
  The mission of the Data Resource Center for Child & Adolescent Health, a project of the Child & Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, is to advance the effective use of public data on the status of children’s health and health-related services for children, youth, and families in the United States. We provide hands-on access to national, state, and regional data findings from large population based surveys. Data are collected from parents and thus contribute a much needed voice in the drive to improve the quality of health care for children and youth.
• Expert Health Data Programming, Inc. (EHDP)External – Booth no. 131
  The EHDP booth will be displaying Vitalnet software. Vitalnet is a desktop/web-based query system for analyzing birth, death, multiple-cause mortality, pregnancy, cancer registry, BRFSS, and other health-related data sets. Vitalnet automatically and quickly makes maps, tables, and charts. Vitalnet provides a very cost-effective way for an organization to best analyze and disseminate large, complex health-related data sets.
• Hortonworks, Inc.External – Booth no. 106
  Hortonworks is committed to delivering HDP completely in the open. We introduce enterprise feature requirements into the public domain and we code to address those requirements. We contribute all of that code back to the wide array of Hadoop ecosystem projects managed within the Apache Software Foundation.
• Genesis Systems, Inc.External – Booth no. 112
  Genesis Systems, Inc. is the number one provider of Vital Records registration, issuance, and analysis software in the United States. Our advanced interoperability capabilities between EMRs, EHRs, and HIEs help to minimize data entry, improve quality, and the timeliness of data submission. Please stop by our booth to discuss and get additional information about our products and services.
• Minnesota Population Center (MPC)External – Booth no. 108
  Visit our booth to learn about the Integrated Health Interview Series (IHIS) and other MPC data products. Staff will be on hand for one-on-one conversations and assistance. The IHIS provides freely available harmonized versions of the National Health Interview Surveys from 1963 to the present online.
• SAS InstituteExternal – Booth no. 130
  Come by and see the latest in advanced analytics, data visualization solutions from the leading analytical software company. SAS will be featuring demonstrations that will appeal to NCHS and partners.