Health Information Management Research Guide

National:

• CDC / National Center for Health Statistics: Home Page (principal US health statistics agency)
• CDC Data & Statistics Portal (archived) --> Latest data sets found at data.cdc.gov
• CDC FastStats
• Health Data Resources from US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
• Health Data Resources from National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

State and County:

• California Center for Health Statistics
• California Department of Public Health Statistics Portal
• California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI)
• State Health Facts from Kaiser Family Foundation
• Statistics of the States from CDC/NCHS
• County Health Rankings and Roadmaps (from Univ. of Wisconsin Population Health Institute)
• County of San Diego Community Health Statistics
• Live Well San Diego - This data access portal will take you to the most recent demographic, economic, behavioral, and health data available by communities in San Diego County.
   

International:

• World Health Organization (WHO) Data and Statistics
• Global Burden of Disease Data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)
• Health Data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• Health Data from the World Bank

Super Portals:

• Health Data Tools and Statistics Portal (from Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce)
• National Library of Medicine Health Statistics Guide
• US HealthData.gov Portal
• Dataset Search - A search engine for datasets. Discover datasets hosted in thousands of repositories across the Web.

Below are links to two health statistics tutorials, along with several Internet search tips:

Tutorials:

• Finding and Using Health Statistics (from NLM)
• Public Health Information & Data Tutorial: Health Statistics (from Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce)

Statistics Search Tips:

• When searching the web, you can limit your retrieval to government agencies by using this technique in Google:
  • ENTER: [search terms] site: gov
  • EXAMPLE: diabetes statistics site: gov
• Keep in mind that the most current data available might sometimes be a year or two behind (given time requirements for completing survey/research/compilation work and delays in releasing the data to the public).
• Evaluate carefully the source of the statistics. Stay on the lookout for bias.

Below are sample data visualization charts from the CDC National Center for Health Statistics Data Visualization Gallery.  As these examples illustrate, sometimes the easiest way to tell a data story can be with visual images, charts, and graphs.

For more health-related data visualization examples, see also:

• Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation - GBD Data Visualizations
• World Health Organization - World Health Statistics 2016 Data Visualization Dashboard
• AHRQ Research Data Infographics
• California Healthcare Foundation - Worth a Thousand Words: How to Display Health Data

The Executive Director of Oklahoma State University's Center for Health Systems Innovation - CHSI (Dr. William Paiva)  delivers a TED Talk presentation on the topic: Improving Health with Data