NAHDO History
The National Association of Health Data Organizations (NAHDO) was created by Washington Business Group on Health (WBGH) and the Intergovernmental Health Policy Project (IHPP) at George Washington University in the spring of 1986. At that time, NAHDO's purpose was to support the activities of state-level agencies - state data organizations (SDOs) - mandated to collect, analyze, disseminate, and use hospital discharge data sets. In the summer of 1986, representatives from state data organizations in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Tennessee met with WBGH and IHPP in Washington, DC, to launch NAHDO. Two years later, in April 1988, NAHDO became a private, not-for-profit, national educational and charitable membership organization (501-C-3).
In 1989, the NAHDO Board of Directors broadened the membership qualifications to include organizations and individuals from the private for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. Today, NAHDO's membership includes SDOs, federal agencies, peer review organizations, software and hardware vendors, consultive groups, and universities, as well as representatives from state and regional hospital associations, managed care organizations, health services research organizations, and the media, among others.
NAHDO is the only organization of its kind, bringing together members of the public and private sectors of the health information industry. As with any successful organization, NAHDO's success is linked inexorably to its members and their involvement in the association, their belief in the importance of NAHDO, and their commitment to helping NAHDO meet its mission.
Mission Statement
The National Association of Health Data Organizations (NAHDO) is a national, not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to improving health care through the collection, analysis, dissemination, public availability, and use of health data.
NAHDO provides leadership in health care information management and analysis, promotes the availability of and access to health data, and encourages the use of these data to make informed decisions and guide the development of health policy. NAHDO provides information on current issues and strategies to develop a nationwide, comprehensive, integrated health information system, sponsors educational programs, provides assistance, and serves as a forum to foster collaboration and the exchange of ideas and experiences among collectors and users of health data. By doing so, NAHDO works to increase the state of knowledge.
Objectives
NAHDO and its members work to:
- support the development of public domain health data organizations and the use of their data to address national, state, and local issues and patient-level concerns
- promote uniformity and standardization of health data collection and dissemination among public, private, and voluntary data collectors and users
- promote cooperation among public and private entities that collect, analyze, and disseminate health data
- promote the development of uniform privacy regulations and strict penalties for misuse of patient identifiable data
- provide timely access to the latest developments, trends, and expertise in health care information.
Statement of Principles on Information for Health System Reform
The National Association of Health Data Organizations (NAHDO) sets forth the following principles to guide the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data/information to support health system reform. We support the development of a nationwide, publicly controlled health information infrastructure built on the strength and expertise of existing public and private health information systems.
NAHDO believes the U.S. health care system requires:
- publicly available data as a foundation for effective decision making at all levels
- timely and meaningful performance indicators that are independently validated, responsibly used, and comparable across providers, communities, sectors, and states.
NAHDO believes that to accomplish its mission:
- policies that protect the privacy and confidentiality of the patient are essential to a viable, robust health information system
- data must be uniform and comparable
- data must be transformed into meaningful information for multiple users with diverse needs
- a nationwide health information infrastructure should provide comprehensive data on health status, health system capacity, use, costs, charges, expenditures and payments, measures of quality of care, and threats to health
- a public-private partnership is key to a successful nationwide health information infrastructure
- federal guidance is needed to health ensure the quality, completeness, comparability, timeliness, accuracy, and accessibility to individual-level, longitudinal data
- sufficient resources should be invested in database development, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination initiatives, information technology, and in efforts to enhance current information systems.
To obtain the complete document, Statement of Principles on Information for Health System Reform, contact NAHDO.
Telephone: (801) 532-2299
Fax: (801) 532-2228
E-mail: nahdoinfo@nahdo.org