National health data delay caused by North Carolina
The release of the 2022 national final mortality data will be delayed until the National Center for Health Statistics has complete data, which it currently doesn't because of North Carolina.
The information released by the NCHS is important to understand public health trends. The delay affects an understanding of what’s happening from a nationwide health standpoint, which can help shape policy.
As first reported by the News and Observer, back in November 2023, the state's Department of Health and Human Services detected just less than 800 partially reported death records. While that may seem like a lot, it’s only about 1% of all death records in the state from that year.
The reason why could be related to a change in how the records are kept, according to state officials. Toward the end of 2022, the state moved to an electronic submission system. Representatives from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services say that may have contributed to inconsistent or incomplete submissions. But, now that the systems is up and running, "NCDHHS can better detect and address partial reporting."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told WRAL News that North Carolina is the only state they’re waiting on records for. The state must complete all partial records by the end of February.
