The purposes of the National Health Service Corps Uniform Data System (NHSC UDS) are to assist the NHSC in reporting to the government and others regarding the impact that the NHSC is making in facilitating health care services to the nation's underserved and vulnerable populations. In addition, the NHSC UDS will provide sites with comparison data.

The NHSC UDS is a simpler version of the UDS used by the grant recipients of the Health Resources and Services Administration's Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC). The NHSC UDS was designed with the cooperation of a number of sites including community health centers, clinics, and private practices. After the initial development and testing were completed, the sites which participated in the field testing indicated that the NHSC UDS was an effective tool for monitoring their existing practice operations and for identifying areas for improvement.

The NHSC UDS was phased in for the 1998 reporting year. An Excel software template was developed to assist with the production of the reports and was distributed at 40 training sessions which were conducted across the country in 1998. The NHSC web site was used to post UDS materials and to serve as an interactive forum for questions and answers.

Formal reporting began in calendar year 1999. Software using Microsoft Access replaced the Excel template and approximately 30 training sessions were conducted in 1999. Submission of reports was monitored, reports were edited, data was entered into the data base and comparison reports were issued enabling individual sites to compare their operations to statewide and national averages of groupings of similar sites.

The software is revised each calendar year to accommodate whatever changes that are made in the reporting system and to improve the functionality of the software. Training sessions are also scheduled each year for new sites, for sites that have not participated in training previously, and for site staff who are new to the UDS reporting process. The sessions, which are free of charge, will take place each fall and winter. The NHSC will pay for travel expenses for eligible individuals. Shorter WebEx sessions are also offered where the training is presented in a teleconference and on your personal computer. No travel is required but a good internet connection is needed. For more information about UDS training opportunities, contact the NHSC UDS help desk at 1-888-459-1080 or at udshelp@nhscdata.net.