The government agency that developed the UHDDS basic data set:
a. World Health Organization (WHO)
b. National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics
c. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
d. Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is b. National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics.
The UHDDS (Uniform Hospital Discharge Data Set) is a standardized set of data elements that are used to collect and report information about hospital discharges. It was developed by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) in the United States in the early 1980s. The goal of the UHDDS is to improve the consistency and reliability of hospital data collection, allowing for better comparisons and analyses across healthcare facilities.
The NCVHS, a federal advisory committee, was established to advise the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on matters related to the collection and use of health statistics. The UHDDS includes a range of demographic and clinical data fields, including patient identifiers, diagnosis codes, procedures, and discharge status. These data elements help in understanding hospital usage patterns, identifying trends in disease and care outcomes, and supporting healthcare quality improvement efforts.
Hospitals across the U.S. use the UHDDS to maintain consistent, comparable data for Medicare and Medicaid reporting. It is also useful for a variety of health policy decisions, research studies, and the development of performance indicators. The data helps healthcare stakeholders, including policymakers and health professionals, make informed decisions based on standardized, reliable information.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) play important roles in healthcare administration and public health, but it was the NCVHS that specifically developed the UHDDS. The World Health Organization (WHO) is more involved in global health initiatives, not the development of national data sets like the UHDDS.