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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Great Plains Area

Office of Planning and Legislation

Functions

  • Support to the Office of the Area Director, Area branches, and Indian Health Service Headquarters in the development and implementation of facility planning, staffing analysis, program design as it relates to facility construction,
  • Support the development, maintenance, and implementation of the Resource Requirements Methodology Needs Assessment used to determine staffing and resource requirements including budget formulation
  • Area liaison with Indian Health Service Headquarters Offices; Environmental Health and Engineering; Program Statistics, Planning and Evaluation, and Clinical and Preventive Health Service in the planning of federally funded construction projects,
  • Prepare, evaluate and verify submissions of Program Justification Documents, Program of Requirements, Project Summary Documents, and Program Justification Document for Quarters to assure they are in accordance with the Health Facilities Construction Priority System and their Health Facilities Master Plan,
  • Collect and analyze workload data for application of the formulas contained in the Indian Health Service Health Systems Planning software.
  • Implement national directives regarding facility construction, staffing formula design, other construction formulas, resource allocation and interpreting policy in light of service unit and tribal needs.

Statistics

The Great Plains Area Statistician generates, analyzes, interprets, and report statistical data from all area operating units and serves as a direct liaison with the national Indian Health Service data system. In addition, the Statistician provides a variety of data collection and analyses functions for Area, service unit, and tribal programs.

  • Evaluate and analyze trends and make forecasts about health care delivery to optimize patient care and support program management of decision-making. Provide direct consultation to the Area Director on all health issues based on data collection efforts, analyses, research, program evaluation, and other scientific inquiry into health systems. Conducts Special statistical studies as mandated by directives from IHS Director, Congress, and other Federal agencies.
  • Monitor and review direct inpatient, outpatient, and tribal Contract Health Service data transmissions, respond to error conditions, and disseminate final reports to all operating units. Respond to technical inquiries from tribes and service units regarding data quality, statistical methods, Patient Care Component, and other RPMS software applications.
  • Publish natality, mortality, and leading causes of direct and Contract Health Service inpatient/outpatient visits, which describe the health trends of American Indian/Alaskan Natives in the service unit.
  • Produces and publishers the leading causes of inpatient and outpatient visits by service unit on an annual basis - Morbidity Data Report.