Improving NCHS Data Dissemination Ellen Bloom UMD School of Public Policy Project Course 2017

Mission Statement “As the Nation’s principal health statistics agency, NCHS leads the way with accurate, relevant, and timely data.”

Reality “NCHS scores are lower than average for ability to navigate the site and search for or locate the documents or data… In terms of the metrics platform, it used to be that we could expect a healthy 5-10% increase each year in number of page views/visits. In the last couple years, however, that has declined or stayed the same from year to year.” -Anthony Lipphardt, Health Communications Specialist, NCHS Although NCHS scores for the quality of information on the site are typically higher than average (when compared to other government agencies)…

Project Purpose To improve user experience & generate more traffic to all NCHS data portals To ensure health data is being efficiently & effectively distributed to as many people as possible To increase the utility of NCHS data To keep the public informed

SiteCatalyst Findings Step One: SiteCatalyst Findings

Top Health Concerns of the Public Immunizations/Vaccines STD’s Zika Virus Mortality Rates Birth Defects & Developmental Disabilities Medical discoveries & research Staying healthy while traveling yearly recommended immunizations for children from birth through six years old, flu vaccine

Step Two: 2016 Survey Findings

The people answering this question are already the most likely to visit the NCHS website, yet, many of them responded saying they had never accessed it before or had only accessed it 1-5 times in 2016

Although, many respondents felt NCHS information was easy to find, interpret, and distributed in a timely manner, over one hundred respondents felt differently. majority of respondents believed that the listserv for one or more NCHS surveys and the public use microdata files available on the NCHS site are serving their function well, a number of respondents gave contradictory answers.

User Preference & Demographic Excel is the most preferred analytical software Most common user is a student Most users use NCHS information for academic research and/or school projects Over half of all NCHS users are coming from an academic/research institution

Dashboard Comparison Tables NCHS, CMS, FDA Step Three: Dashboard Comparison Tables NCHS, CMS, FDA

Dashboard Comparison Table Summary Agency NCHS CMS FDA Home Page Navigation 4 Useful 5 Very useful Other webpage navigation 2 Somewhat useful Submenu Content Labels Tabs or labels for different users Search engine Data Navigator Tool 3 Not present

Step Four: Interview Data from CMS & FDA Office of Communication Heads

CMS Interview Data Work with users to identify their needs Select open data/data dissemination tools that match these requirements Standardize toolsets to the extent possible Focus on publishing datasets of value to your users Explore visualizations to make the data more accessible - Jon Booth, Director Web & New Media Group Office of Communications, CMS

FDA Interview Data Understand the needs of your visitors/users Leverage available metric systems to gain this understanding Make iterative changes constantly based on data so that you are always improving & becoming more customer-centric The priorities of your organization are important, but knowing what your customers want/need is more important -Chris Mulieri, Director Web and Digital Media Office of Web Communications, FDA

Proposed Public Survey Step Five: Proposed Public Survey

User experience-centered questions How do users feel about NCHS dashboard layout? Were navigation options self-explanatory? What would you say the NCHS website needs (if anything) in order to make navigation easier? If you were not able to find the information you were looking for, what was the reason? If you were able to find the information you were looking for, was the data comprehensible? If you were able to find the information you were looking for, was the data useful? Explain what each question would bring to the table

Proposals Boost content centered around user preference STD’s, Zika virus, Immunizations/Vaccines, Excel-friendly downloads, re-launch VitalStats System, etc. Push for more advertisements of health data publications and reports Health, United States report, publications within the National Vital Statistics System, etc. Simplify homepage and all internal dashboards and channels Refine search engine results, create Data Navigator Tool, standardize toolsets 4. Focus on publishing datasets of value to users

Remember The People Behind the Clicks

Thank you. Any Questions?