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American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) are often misidentified as other races in public health administrative records. In the Northwest, for instance, the Northwest Tribal Epidemiology Center (NTEC) has found that about 10% of AI/AN birth and death records and up to 60% of hospitalization records are misclassified.
Racial misclassification makes it difficult to accurately assess the health of Native people: The numbers affected by a disease may appear lower or higher than they actually are. It can muddle and misrepresent information in birth certificates, cancer registries, death certificates, emergency department records, hospitalization records, injury reports. Without accurate health data, says Lisa Neel, director of the Indian Health Service (IHS) Tribal Epidemiology Center Program, tribes cannot make informed decisions about how best to serve their people.
That is why the IHS and the Center recently signed an agreement supporting a new information-sharing project. The agreement will allow the IHS to provide the NTEC with a list of people who have received health services at IHS, tribal, and urban Indian health programs in the Portland Area. The list will include no information about patients’ medical histories and will not be shared outside the NTEC. The center will then compare the list with outside information sources, such as state cancer registries, to check for racial misclassification.
The NTEC is 1 of 13 national “EpiCenters” charged with collecting tribal health status data, evaluating data monitoring and delivery systems, and helping tribes identify local priorities for health care delivery and health education. NTEC serves the 43 federally recognized tribes in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The center is housed in the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB), whose delegates, representing the member tribes, direct and oversee activities, including health promotion, disease prevention, training and technical assistance.
The IHS plans for this to be a pilot project, possibly pointing the way for other tribal EpiCenters to launch similar projects.
American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) are often misidentified as other races in public health administrative records. In the Northwest, for instance, the Northwest Tribal Epidemiology Center (NTEC) has found that about 10% of AI/AN birth and death records and up to 60% of hospitalization records are misclassified.
Racial misclassification makes it difficult to accurately assess the health of Native people: The numbers affected by a disease may appear lower or higher than they actually are. It can muddle and misrepresent information in birth certificates, cancer registries, death certificates, emergency department records, hospitalization records, injury reports. Without accurate health data, says Lisa Neel, director of the Indian Health Service (IHS) Tribal Epidemiology Center Program, tribes cannot make informed decisions about how best to serve their people.
That is why the IHS and the Center recently signed an agreement supporting a new information-sharing project. The agreement will allow the IHS to provide the NTEC with a list of people who have received health services at IHS, tribal, and urban Indian health programs in the Portland Area. The list will include no information about patients’ medical histories and will not be shared outside the NTEC. The center will then compare the list with outside information sources, such as state cancer registries, to check for racial misclassification.
The NTEC is 1 of 13 national “EpiCenters” charged with collecting tribal health status data, evaluating data monitoring and delivery systems, and helping tribes identify local priorities for health care delivery and health education. NTEC serves the 43 federally recognized tribes in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The center is housed in the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB), whose delegates, representing the member tribes, direct and oversee activities, including health promotion, disease prevention, training and technical assistance.
The IHS plans for this to be a pilot project, possibly pointing the way for other tribal EpiCenters to launch similar projects.
American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) are often misidentified as other races in public health administrative records. In the Northwest, for instance, the Northwest Tribal Epidemiology Center (NTEC) has found that about 10% of AI/AN birth and death records and up to 60% of hospitalization records are misclassified.
Racial misclassification makes it difficult to accurately assess the health of Native people: The numbers affected by a disease may appear lower or higher than they actually are. It can muddle and misrepresent information in birth certificates, cancer registries, death certificates, emergency department records, hospitalization records, injury reports. Without accurate health data, says Lisa Neel, director of the Indian Health Service (IHS) Tribal Epidemiology Center Program, tribes cannot make informed decisions about how best to serve their people.
That is why the IHS and the Center recently signed an agreement supporting a new information-sharing project. The agreement will allow the IHS to provide the NTEC with a list of people who have received health services at IHS, tribal, and urban Indian health programs in the Portland Area. The list will include no information about patients’ medical histories and will not be shared outside the NTEC. The center will then compare the list with outside information sources, such as state cancer registries, to check for racial misclassification.
The NTEC is 1 of 13 national “EpiCenters” charged with collecting tribal health status data, evaluating data monitoring and delivery systems, and helping tribes identify local priorities for health care delivery and health education. NTEC serves the 43 federally recognized tribes in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The center is housed in the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB), whose delegates, representing the member tribes, direct and oversee activities, including health promotion, disease prevention, training and technical assistance.
The IHS plans for this to be a pilot project, possibly pointing the way for other tribal EpiCenters to launch similar projects.