About CHS

CHS Functional Area Descriptions

Agency Analytics Unit

The Agency Analytics Unit is a service-oriented arm of CHS, utilizing CHS and other agency datasets to describe and analyze the public health issues most important to Texas.

Advanced Analytics

The Advanced Analytics Team conducts public health research and data analyses to support DSHS’s mission. The team provides timely, accurate, and accessible information about the health of Texans and informs public health practice through research. The team also helps other programs develop study designs and data analysis plans.

COVID Data

The COVID Data team produces COVID-19 visualizations and data files aimed at keeping Texans informed about the pandemic. The team also provides epidemiological and analytical support to the Office of the Chief State Epidemiologist and other stakeholders.

Data Visualization

The Data Visualization Team functions as a source of dissemination for DSHS data. This includes coordination of CHS web resources, including Texas Health Data, the agency's main data visualization and storytelling platform.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

The GIS team provides map-making, geocoding, online mapping applications, spatial analysis, and general GIS technical support and expertise to DSHS. The group supports DSHS research projects with research design, geographic analysis, and spatial analytical methods.

Health Information Resources Unit

Collects, analyzes, and disseminates health information for public health decision-making in Texas.

Community Assessment

The Community Assessment Team is responsible for the collection, management, and dissemination of the Texas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the Texas Youth Risk Factor Surveillance System (YRBSS). The BRFSS is an annual survey of Texas adults and the YRBSS is a biannual survey of Texas high school students. Both surveys are a primary source of comprehensive statewide data on preventive health practices, health risk behaviors, and chronic conditions and are important tools for decision-making throughout DSHS and the public health community.

Data Linking

The Data Linking team works to integrate data housed at CHS and to match CHS data with those provided by state agencies, health departments, universities, and other stakeholders. The Data Linking team handles these matches through contracts and approved IRB protocols. Through the use of matching algorithms and in-house handling of data, the Data Linking team can provide more secure, but detailed, information than otherwise possible.

Vital Events Data

The Vital Events Data Management team monitors vital statistics events – live births, deaths, fetal deaths – for quality and consistency through a detailed step-wise process. They analyze the resulting data and produce vital statistics reports that are published online. Particular attention is given to ensure that the data released will not identify any person, physician, or provider. CHS vital statistics are a main data source for Texas public health studies, development, initiatives, and improvement.

Health Provider Resources Unit

Collects, analyzes, and disseminates health information regarding health provider resources in Texas.

Hospital Data

Through its annual survey of hospitals, the Hospital Survey team collects utilization and financial data for over 560 Texas Hospitals.  The Annual Survey of Hospitals is a cooperative survey between the Texas Department of State Health Services, the American Hospital Association, and the Texas Hospital Association.  The survey collects data on charity care, government-sponsored indigent health care, and other community benefits through the Annual Statement of Community Benefits Standard form.  Nonprofit hospitals can qualify for a lower limitation on liability for non-economic damages if they provide 8% of net patient revenue and provide 40% of charity care in their county. 

Provider Licensure Data

The Health Professions Resource Center (HPRC) is the primary source for Texas healthcare workforce data. The HPRC collects, analyzes, and disseminates data concerning the supply trends, geographic distribution, and demographics of approximately 40 types of healthcare professionals. The HPRC designates healthcare delivery sites where mid-level providers can practice limited prescriptive authority. Additionally, the HPRC serves as a data resource for academic institutions, professional organizations, students, legislators, and workforce planners.

Nursing Workforce Data

The Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies (TCNWS) collects and disseminates relevant and reliable nursing workforce data.  Through multiple surveys and data sources, the TCNWS tracks demographics and trends of the nursing workforce; reports on enrollment and graduation data, student demographics, and faculty information from Texas' schools of nursing; and evaluates staffing and recruitment information from employers of nurses.  The TCNWS is the leading source for nursing workforce data, research, and information in Texas.

Texas Health Care Information Collection (THCIC)

The Texas Health Care Information Collection (THCIC) team collects and releases de-identified hospital inpatient data, emergency department data, and a limited amount of outpatient data from hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. THCIC oversees the annual collection of the Texas subset of the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) for commercial health plans in Texas.  Additionally, THCIC publishes healthcare-related reports online; provides training for facilities; keeps track of data submissions; and creates, and makes available, standardized public use data files and customized research data files as approved by the DSHS IRB.