NCHS Staff Manual on Confidentiality

The confidentiality of records is a matter of primary concern to the NCHS. To elicit health information from the American people and from the health care providers through our surveys, the NCHS must be able to assure them that this information will be protected from all unauthorized persons. This means that NCHS must have strong laws to protect these records, and must establish and follow established procedures. This manual outlines the NCHS’s policies that implement federal law and ensure that all confidential information will be fully protected. It should be viewed in unison with the NCHS data release policies addressing access to data and NCHS Research Ethics Review Board Requirements.