A

Anti-Fraud Birth/Death

Common uses 

• Used among one of the following qualifying identities: 
  
• Financial institutions, as defined in Section 6827(4)(A) and (B) of Title 15 of the United States Code, its representatives or contractors
  
• Consumer credit reporting agencies, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 1785.3 of the Civil Code, its representatives or contractors
  
•  Entities providing information services for purposes of law enforcement or preventing fraud. 
• Officers of the court for the sole purpose of verifying a death
  
• Persons or entities acting on behalf of law enforcement agencies or the court, or pursuant to a court order
  
• Generally, not used for scientific research
  

• Anti-Fraud (Birth) contains the following variables: First, Middle, and Last Name, Sex, Date of Birth, Place of Birth (Facility, County)​, and Mother's Maiden Name
• Anti-Fraud (Death) contains the following variables: First, Middle, and Last Name, Sex, Date of Birth, Place of Birth (Country or U.S. State), Place of Death (Facility, Street Address, City, and County), Date of Death, Mother's Maiden Name, Social Security Number, and Father's Last Name 

• Anti-Fraud data, prepared pursuant to HSC Section 102230, may not be accurate or complete due to a variety of circumstances, including amendments to the legal records that may have been filed after the production of the data files.  Data files are not legal records and should not be used as substitutes for the legal records from which they were derived. 

Please refer to the data source comparison charts posted on Data and Limitations for updated year availability and detailed data source descriptions.

Resource(s): Data Applications and Dictionaries, Data Types and Limitations, CDPH VSA, Vital Statistics Application xForm Screener

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Birth Cohort 

Refers to data of all live births that occurred in California (CA) in a specific year and the infants who died in the first year of life (matched to the birth). In addition, the BCF includes out of-State births to California residents, out- of-state deaths for infants who died in the first year of life, and all fetal deaths that occurred in a specific year.

Resource(s): Data Applications and Dictionaries, CDPH VSA, Vital Statistics Application xForm Screener

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Business Use Case Proposal (BUCP)

The Business Use Case Proposal (BUCP) is a data sharing agreement initiated by a Data Recipient (California State governmental agencies) to request data from a Data Provider (CDPH). A BUCP is designed for data that requires protection and cannot be freely shared across state entities. Typically, this means the data faces restrictions on disclosures to other state entities under federal or state law due to privacy or security reasons.

Resource(s): IDEA Guidebook, BUCP Template

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California Integrated Vital Records System (Cal-IVRS)

California Integrated Vital Records System (Cal-IVRS) is a platform designed, developed, and implemented for the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) through a contract with UC San Diego. CDPH is responsible for reporting this data to National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Cal-IVRS is used by public health jurisdictions to collect data and register death certificates, fetal death certificates, and birth certificates.

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Cause of Death Coding

Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS)

D

Data De-identification Guidelines (DDG)

Describes the procedure to be used by departments and offices in the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS) to assess data for public release. These steps are intended to assist departments in assuring that data is de-identified for purposes of public release that meet the requirements of the California Information Practices Act (IPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to prevent the disclosure of personal information. As a result, tabulated data counts less than 11 may be suppressed to protect privacy, and additional suppression may be applied to complementary cells to prevent the inference of the values of suppressed cells.  Agency DDG must be applied to all summarized/tabular data among all Departments and Programs within Agency that report information about individuals.

Resource(s): Data De-Identification Guidelines (DDG) (PDF)

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Death Data

Death data are obtained through the Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS). Death certificates are generated from data entered into the EDRS at funeral homes, hospitals, coroners, or office of the local registrar.

Resource(s):  Data Applications and Dictionaries, CDPH VSA, Vital Statistics Application xForm Screener

E

Electronic Birth Registration System (EBRS) / Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS)

Secure, web-based electronic birth, death, and fetal death registration databases maintained by the State Registrar.

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F

Fetal Death

Defined as death before the complete expulsion or extraction from the mother of a product of human conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy that is not an induced termination of pregnancy. The death is indicated by the fact that, after such expulsion or extraction, the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles. Heartbeats are to be distinguished from transient cardiac contractions; respirations are to be distinguished from fleeting respiratory efforts or gasps. California law requires all fetal deaths to be registered within eight days of the fetal death event. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is responsible for timely fetal death registrations as mandated by Health and Safety Code (HSC) Section 102950.

Resource(s):  Data Applications and Dictionaries, CDPH VSA, Vital Statistics Application xForm Screener

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I

Information Privacy and Security Requirements (IPSR)

Information Privacy and Security Requirements (IPSR) sets forth the information privacy and security requirements. It is required for each organization or institution where Vital Records data will be stored or accessed.

Resource(s): Data Application Agreement Information Privacy and Security Requirements (PDF)

Interagency Agreement (IAA)

The Interagency Agreement (IAA) refers to an agreement between two or more state departments and is a necessary component in developing a data contract. The IAA is completed by CDPH and agreed to by the requesting state department.

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L

Local Health Departments (LHD)

Local Health Departments (LHD) work with healthcare and community partners to prevent and target the cause of disease outbreaks, illness and injury and then determine the appropriate response. LHDs also work to impact social, economic and environmental factors fundamental to excellent health.

Resource(s):  Data Applications and Dictionaries, CDPH VSA, Vital Statistics Application xForm Screener

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Medical Marijuana Identification Card Program (MMICP)

The Medical Marijuana Identification Card Program (MMICP) was established to create a state-authorized medical marijuana identification card (MMIC), along with a registry database for verification of qualified patients and their primary caregivers. Participation by patients and primary caregivers in this MMICP is voluntary. The MMICP web-based registry allows law enforcement and the public to verify the validity of a qualified patient or primary caregiver's MMICP as authorization to possess, grow, transport, and/or use medical marijuana within California. 58 counties participate in the program.

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Mortality

Refers to the state of being mortal (destined to die). In medicine, a term also used for death rate, or the number of deaths in a certain group of people in a certain period. Implementation ​​of the Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS) ensures timely and accurate death certificates and, in turn, accurate mortality data that can be used in epidemiological studies and public health evaluations used to improve health care services and programs.

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N

Natality

Natality, also known as birth rate, is defined as the ratio of live births in an area to the population of that area; expressed per 1000 population per year.  Vital statistics natality data are a fundamental source of demographic, geographic, and medical and health information on all births occurring in the United States.

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P

Personal Information

Refers to any information that is maintained by CDPH that identifies or describes an individual, including, but not limited to, an individual's social security number, physical description, home address, home telephone number, education, financial matters, and medical or employment history. It includes statements made by, or attributed to, the individual. California Information Practices Act – Personal Information (PI) is defined by California Civil Code section 1798.3 and Government Code section 11015.5.

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Place of Residence

The place where the person giving birth or where the decedent lived; reports based on California as the Place of Residence will include births/​deaths outside of California to a California resident and exclude births/deaths occurring in California to a non-Californian.

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Public Use File (birth, death and marriage)

All the birth, death, and marriage public use file data come from information recorded on the child’s birth certificate, the decedent’s death certificate, and the person's marriage certificate.

• Used among public organizations
• Generally not used for scientific research, but rather for legal verification such as to establish identity 

• Public Use (Birth) data contain the following variables: First, Middle, and Last Name, Sex, Date of Birth, and Place of Birth (Facility, County)
  
• Public Use (Death) data contain the following variables: First, Middle, and Last Name, Sex, Date of Birth, Place of Birth (Country or U.S. State), Place of Death (Facility, Street Address, City, and County), Date of Death, and Father's Last Name
  
• Public Use (Marriage) data contain the following variables: Date of Marriage, Last Name of Groom, First Name of Groom, Middle Initial of Groom, Last Name of Bride, First Name of Bride, Middle Initial of Bride
  
• All the birth, death, and marriage public use file data come from information recorded on the child’s birth certificate, the decedent’s death certificate, or an individual's marriage certificate
  

• Public Use data, prepared pursuant to HSC Section 102230, may not be accurate or complete due to a variety of circumstances, including amendments to the legal records that may have been filed after the production of the data files
  
• Data files are not legal records and should not be used as substitutes for the legal records from which they were derived
  

Please refer to the data source comparison charts posted on Data and Limitations for updated year availability and detailed data source descriptions.

Resource(s):  Data Applications and Dictionaries, Data Types and Limitations, CDPH VSA, Vital Statistics Application xForm Screener

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Research and Analytics Branch (RAB)

Research and Analytics Branch, Data Reporting Unit compiles data for birth, death, and fetal death vital events, develops data products related to vital events, and supports public health programs by creating and delivering custom data files to end users of these data.

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Static Data

Static data refers to data representing a snapshot of population data (e.g., birth or death) at a specific point in time and does not change over time. It acts as a reference or a guideline for other data and usually does not require updates or frequent alterations.  Static data is typically created several months to a year after the end of the year, once all vital events (births, deaths, etc.) have been collected, processed, and verified. The delay in static data compilation allows for late records and amendments to be included and errors to be corrected.​ Birth and death data among California residents is retrieved from the Electronic Birth Registry System (EBRS) and Electronic Death Registry System (EDRS). Birth and death data of California residents that occur out-of-state are provided by the jurisdiction of occurrence through the State and Territorial Exchange of Vital Events system (STEVE).

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U

Underlying Cause of Death (UCOD)

The initiating disease or condition, referred to as the Underlying Cause of Death, is certified by medical doctors and listed on the death certificate. It is reported to the government using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), which is the standard medical classification list of the World Health Organization (WHO). The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) codes all causes of death according to the International Classification of Diseases, version 10 for Mortality (ICD-10) using the literal text from the death certificate. Once coded, the cause of death codes is provided to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) by NCHS.

Resource(s):  FAQ, Data Applications and Dictionaries, CDPH VSA, Vital Statistics Application xForm Screener

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Vital Statistics Advisory Committee (VSAC)

The Vital Statistics Advisory Committee (VSAC) reviews vital statistics data applications requesting confidential birth and fetal death data to ensure existence of legitimate scientific interest and provides recommendations to the State Registrar regarding release of data. Established by Statute (Health and Safety Code 102465). Meets in compliance with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.

Resource(s): Data Applications and Dictionaries, CDPH VSA, Vital Statistics Application xForm Screener

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Vital Statistics Data Applications (VSA) Electronic Submission System xForm

The Vital Statistics Data Applications (VSA) Electronic Submission System xForm refers to the online submission, workflow, and data management system for requesting CDPH Vital Statistics data. The electronic forms provided within this system will allow requesters to submit new data requests for review and applications for continuing review. This allows the requester to follow the application through the review process. See California Code, Health and Safety Code - HSC § 102465 and California Code, Health and Safety Code - HSC § 103527 for more information.

Resource(s): VSA Tools FAQ, Vital Statistics Application xForm Screener, Data Applications and Dictionaries, Data Types and Limitations, Data Request Guide (PDF)

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