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Overview of the Office “Providing the right information, to the right people, in the right time and format”, is the MISSION of The Office of Public Health Statistics and Information Services (PHSIS). PHSIS has four (4) main divisions: The Division of Vital Registry (a population based registry of all live births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, divorces, adoptions, and induced terminations of pregnancy occurring in South Carolina); The Division of Cancer Registry (known as the S.C. Central Cancer Registry – a population based registry of all incidents of cancer cases in South Carolina); The Division of Biostatistics (a statistical, epidemiological, and data management and analysis unit) and The Division of Public Health Informatics (a spatial, systems analysis, integration, and development support unit). With these four divisions, PHSIS contains the core elements needed to assist in carrying out the agency’s surveillance and assessment responsibilities. The office is also responsible for conducting Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversight on all research conducted by the agency to ensure the protection of human subjects involved in research. PHSIS has almost completed an extensive re-engineering of the state’s Vital Records and Statistics System that will make it a web-based seamless integrated, nearly paper-free system, providing faster and higher quality data as well as timelier service for all customers. For additional information about PHSIS, please visit our website: http://www.scdhec.net/co/phsis/biostatistics/. Notable Accomplishments and Awards:
Division of Vital Registry The Vital Registry is a direct service and program-support oriented unit. Established under statutory authority, the Vital Registry provides for the correction, certification, and issuance of all vital events, including live births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, divorces and annulments, and induced terminations of pregnancy. Its overall responsibility is to develop, maintain, and direct the statewide system of vital records, ensuring that the system provides legal documentation for citizens and reliable health data on a continuing basis. There is a vital records office in each of the County Health Departments, supported by the central office located in Columbia. There are over 9 million original records contained in the “vault” in the central office of vital records. Each year, this division provides over 700,000 certifications of these events statewide. Five percent (5%) of these certifications involve very complex legal issues (court orders, amendments, legitimations, paternity acknowledgements, adoptions, etc.). By law, the State Registrar for Vital Records is the Commissioner of Health and Environmental Control who delegates this responsibility to the Director of PHSIS who is the Assistant State Registrar. Division of Cancer Registry The South Carolina Central Cancer Registry (SCCCR) is a highly-specialized program area that collects, stores, analyzes, and interprets all cancer incidence cases occurring in South Carolina while maintaining the central cancer registry data system. Established under statutory authority in 1996, data are collected from hospitals, pathology labs, physician offices and freestanding treatment centers statewide. The purpose of the SCCCR is to utilize this information to determine the true incidence of cancer in South Carolina. In addition, the SCCCR analyzes this data and provides information on where cancers are being diagnosed in the state; what sub populations are being most affected so that cancer control interventions can be appropriately targeted; and whether certain geographical areas are “hot spots” for cancer occurrence. The SCCCR is responsible for coordinating and conducting all “Cancer Cluster Analyses” in DHEC. Because the SCCCR is nationally certified it is eligible for supplemental funding from the CDC and has received Because the SCCCR is nationally certified it is eligible for supplemental funding from the CDC and has received several supplemental grants. Division of Biostatistics The Division of Biostatistics registers, collects, analyzes and disseminates public health statistics and information on the health status of South Carolinians, including their health needs and problems. The Division is responsible for registering all vital events that occur in South Carolina, which include births, deaths, fetal deaths, induced terminations of pregnancy, marriages and divorces. The Division also collects population health indicators through surveys to monitor behavior and pregnancy risk factors and trends. The Division provides high quality, timely public health information and consultation for DHEC programs and others. Highly trained staff with advanced degrees in statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, public health, and related fields provide services to customers. Staff are also trained in coding cause of death information according to the International Classification of Disease (ICD) for use in statistical analyses. Services include topics such as vital statistics, cancer statistics, immunization survey analysis, data linkage and analysis, demographics, research design, sampling design, cause of death classification and statistical consultations. These services range from simply providing data to conducting highly complex studies. Each year, over 1,500 consultative services and data requests are provided. Over the last several years, the Division of Biostatistics along with the Division of Public Health Informatics have been developing and deploying DHEC’s South Carolina Community Assessment Network (SCAN) on the Internet. SCAN is a web-based, interactive data query system for community assessment. It provides South Carolinians immediate access to aggregate public health data specific to their community. SCAN also incorporates Geographic Information Systems capabilities allowing access to interactive maps and spatial analysis tools. SCAN is DHEC’s primary statistical data dissemination tool on the Internet. Currently, there are thirteen (13) modules in SCAN including the birth, death, population, PRAMS (Pregnancy Risk Assessment and Monitoring System), pregnancy, fetal deaths, mother’s health and lifestyle, infant and child health, infant mortality and cancer incidence modules. Future datasets will include additional data related to DHEC programs, public health and the environment. When fully implemented, SCAN will enable public health care workers and the public to instantaneously attain data structured to their specifications. SCAN-GIS receives national attention as a model web-based data query system. SCAN can be accessed from the DHEC Home Page or directly at: http://scangis.dhec.sc.gov/scan . Division of Public Health Informatics The Division of Public Health Informatics, is a spatial, systems analysis, integration, and development support unit for DHEC. The central focus of this program area is to develop integrated, standards-based applications and tools that allow DHEC to more efficiently integrate, distribute, and analyze data from a wide variety of sources to assist in public health activities statewide. Employees’ specialties range from Statistics and Geographic Information Systems to Emergency Response, Vital Records, Public Health Surveillance and Informatics. This Division oversees the development of the web-based Vital Records System (VRSIIS) and provides technical, application, and scientific support for all other PHSIS program areas. Some current projects included the design and implementation of numerous emergency response and vital records enabled MCH child health systems. DHEC is well-represented by this Division which has come to be widely recognized as one of the most advanced Public Health Enterprise GIS programs in a State Health Department. Multiple book chapters and local, national, and international awards and presentations from this Division have further elevated the Agency’s opportunities to partner with many other external agencies to promote public health informatics efforts. The Office is managed by the following:
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