Vitalnet Details

⇒ What is Vitalnet? A customized COTS data warehouse software.

Vitalnet is a unique software framework for analyzing health data sets, or any large, complex data set. There is no equivalent technology for rapidly providing a fully functioning, top-quality data warehouse. Vitalnet runs directly on the desktop (VitalPro^™) or over the internet (VitalWeb^®).

Vitalnet fulfills the role of many different kinds of software to benefit you and your organization: community assessment, data analysis, data dissemination, data linkage, data mining, decision support, enterprise data warehouse, ICD database, web-based data query system, and virtual data center.

⇒ Is Vitalnet interoperable with other systems? Yes.

Importing: Vitalnet imports data files from any commonly used open (non-proprietary) ASCII format, including flat files, CSV files, and TSV files. Therefore, we can quickly and easily import your existing data.

Exporting: Vitalnet readily exports results to other software, again using open (non-proprietary) file formats. Vitalnet produces CSV files, DBASE3 files, GIS maps, HTML files, PDF maps, PNG charts, PNG maps, SVG maps, TSV files, and TXT files. Each format has special advantages for you and your users.

Interoperable: Since Vitalnet uses standard (open) input and output formats, it works smoothly with your existing software, such as ArcInfo, Excel, Oracle, PowerPoint, R, SAS, SPSS, Stata, Word, etc. Vitalnet is smoothly interoperable with any standards-compliant software.

⇒ What data can Vitalnet include? Virtually any structured data.

Present: Vitalnet already fully analyzes the following data sets much better than any alternative: birth, BRFSS, cancer registry, divorce, hospital discharge, infectious disease, ITOP (abortions), marriage, multiple cause mortality, population, pregnancy outcome, and underlying cause mortality. Each version also includes population data, geographic data, and other data (ICD, CPT, DRG, etc.) as needed.

Future: As you wish, Vitalnet can be configured to handle any complex record-level data set, including birth defects, census, COVID-19, ER, food stamps, HIV and AIDS, immunizations, infant death, linked births and deaths, Medicaid, Medicare, newborn screening, outpatient care, PRAMS, reportable diseases, screening results, TANF, trauma registry, unemployment, YRBS, WIC.

⇒ What granularity age groupings does Vitalnet use? Whatever you specify.

We program and customize Vitalnet to use whatever granularity you specify for your data. A typical granularity might be one-year groups to age 21, then five-year groups, and then a final 75+ group. Another granularity might be 0-4, 5-9, 10-14, ..., and 85+ age groups. Any granularity is possible. Also, Vitalnet correctly handles data sets, such as BRFSS, that only include adult ages.

⇒ How do data get imported into Vitalnet? We do it, at no extra cost.

How importing works: • We sign any required data use agreements. • You send us data files and documentation. • We carry out the data importing. • Importing typically takes a day or two. • We keep you informed of progress. • We send or upload your updated Vitalnet release.

The benefits to you: • Greatly shorten an otherwise lengthy process. • Greatly lower the cost of an otherwise costly process. • Allow users access to the data much sooner. • Ensure data are correctly imported. • Find input data file errors. • Ensure the new Vitalnet release is correctly created.

⇒ Does EHDP provide birth or death certificates? No.

EHDP does not provide birth or death certificates, or other similar documents. Contact your state health agency or other governmental body.

⇒ Does EHDP sell data? No.

EHDP does not buy or sell data. We are solely in the software business. That is a big advantage for you. You own and maintain full control of your data. We guarantee full confidentiality and security for your data. We are not going to resell or otherwise misuse your data.

⇒ What does Vitalnet look like? Clean, friendly, and efficient.

Vitalnet runs directly on the desktop (VitalPro) and in a browser over the internet (VitalWeb). In either case, operations are 100% menu-driven. Users never need to write scripts or enter data by hand. Interfaces are clean and self-explanatory. The benefit is that you and your users rapidly and efficiently analyze your data.

⇒ Are Vitalnet web interfaces responsive and mobile-friendly? Yes. A separate page on this topic.

This is a huge advantage of Vitalnet. The interfaces rearrange themselves to best fit whatever screen size is used ("responsive"). Even on smartphones, Vitalnet works perfectly ("mobile-friendly"). Vitalnet displays and works correctly on every size device: desktop PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

⇒ Will Vitalnet be customized for my needs? Yes, fully customized.

Vitalnet is customized for:

• Areas and regions in your jurisdiction.
• Age groups (e.g., 0-21, 22-24, 25-29, ... 75+).
• Race groups (e.g., White, Black, Hispanic, Other).
• Variables and field values you wish to use.
• Local details & advice included in user help.
• Other feasible customizations, no extra cost.

⇒ Does Vitalnet meet NEDSS requirements? Yes. See separate page on NEDSS.

⇒ Does Vitalnet meet disability requirements? Yes. See separate page on disability standards.

⇒ Does Vitalnet do cell suppression? Yes.

Vitalnet allows numerator-based cell suppression. If desired, you may specify a minimum suppression level, such as 5 events. The user can modify the cell suppression level, but not below the minimum. Vitalnet automatically handles row and column totals to prevent suppressed cells from being uncovered.

If you wish, we can configure Vitalnet to use alternative suppression method algorithms (e.g., a combination of numerator and denominator) that you specify.

⇒ Does Vitalnet make charts? Yes, and this is very important.

Charts are key for visualizing trends and comparisons. Vitalnet makes beautiful pie charts, bar charts, and line charts. The charts are in PNG format. Each chart can be easily customized in many different ways.

Other data analysis software allows the user to make "garbage charts", such as epidemiologically incorrect (e.g., rates in a pie chart), or just awful-looking (too many lines on a line plot). In contrast, Vitalnet prevents users from making "garbage charts". Every Vitalnet chart looks nice and is epidemiologically valid.

⇒ Does Vitalnet make table series? Yes.

Vitalnet can make a whole series of tables. We call this using a "by variable" or "multi-table variable". For example, Vitalnet can automatically make a separate table for each county! This makes the analytic process much faster, simpler, and more reliable for users.

⇒ Does Vitalnet do leading causes of death? Yes.

Vitalnet uses NCHS rankable cause lists, such as the 51 rankable causes. The top 10 causes from a list are the "leading causes of death". Vitalnet allows users to quickly and easily select any standard NCHS list. Next, the user can easily request sorted rows. In less than a minute, the user has generated the leading cause report, and can easily analyze leading causes by age, race, sex, etc.

⇒ Does Vitalnet calculate AA rates for 20-64? No.

It is theoretically possible to program the capability to age-adjust within age groups, such as 20-64, but this has not been done. In any case, Vitalnet can quickly produce the age-specific rates and population numbers needed to set up a spreadsheet to do the calculations.

⇒ Is Vitalnet output mobile-friendly? Yes. A separate page on this topic.

We previously described how VitalWeb interfaces are mobile-friendly and responsive. Going even further, Vitalnet output is specially formatted to look nice and display correctly on every size device: desktop PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Note that wide tables (many columns) will still require the user to horizontally scroll when viewed on a smartphone. There is no way around this because the table is so wide! Viewing a large table or map is easier when using a large monitor.

⇒ How do I print Vitalnet output? There are several ways.

Regardless of which Vitalnet platform, Vitalnet output (maps, charts, and tables) displays in your desktop browser. Once the output is displayed in the browser, you directly print from the browser (e.g., CTL-P).

Alternatively, you can save Vitalnet output in a data file format (e.g., CSV, TSV, dBASE III), and print from some other program. For example, you could import a Vitalnet CSV file into Excel, and then print from within Excel.

⇒ How many ICD codes are included? It depends on the system.

Common codes: VitalWeb Standard and VitalWeb Wizard (both web-based) allow selection from a menu with the most common ICD categories and groupings, which is sufficient for most public users.

All ICD codes: The more advanced VitalPro (desktop) and VitalWeb Ajax (web-based) platforms include the entire ICD system. Furthermore, you may combine selected codes into new "sets". For example, you may compare [A and B] with [X and Y].

⇒ Can Vitalnet analyze national data? Yes, very well.

Vitalnet can import and analyze data from any jurisdiction. We have successfully imported and analyzed US national mortality data. You can see online analyses of US national BRFSS data. Even with large record-level data sets, Vitalnet produces fast results, typically in a second or two, even for millions of records.

⇒ Can Vitalnet work in Spanish? Yes.

Vitalnet has been "internationalized", and can be "localized" to any language. "Internationalized" means we have done the programming to allow localization. "Localized" means that translations have been carried out for a specific language (locale). Google Translate produces many wrong translations, especially with technical words. We can create a Vitalnet version in another language that works perfectly. Spanish and Chinese Vitalnet versions have been successfully built.

⇒ Can Vitalnet analyze zip code data? Yes.

Vitalnet can import and analyze data from any geographical jurisdiction, including sub-county data. We have successfully imported and analyzed Texas zip code data. Of course, getting accurate population data at the zip code level is probably not feasible. Vitalnet will also work with census tract data.

⇒ Can the user rotate (pivot) table axes? Yes.

After making a table, simply return to the interface and switch the variables for rows and columns. For example, easily switch "race by sex" to "sex by race".

⇒ What race groups does Vitalnet use? Whatever you specify.

A typical set of categories might be White, Black, Hispanic, and Other. However, any race categories that you specify may be used. The race categories depend on the way that data are stored and analyzed in your jurisdiction.

⇒ Does Vitalnet project future trends? Yes.

Vitalnet trend analyses (view example trend analysis) automatically include a "least-squares" analysis. The analysis produces a Y-intercept and slope, which may be used to draw the best line through the data and project into the future. Confidence intervals (view example confidence intervals) for the slope may be included, to decide if there is a significant trend.

⇒ Does Vitalnet make maps? Yes, very well.

Vitalnet makes professionally formatted thematic maps that allow the user to quickly compare areas. The maps are in PNG format. In addition, Vitalnet makes maps in PDF and SVG formats, for high-resolution printing. In addition, Vitalnet also makes attractive GIS maps.

All the maps can be easily customized in many ways. Finally, Vitalnet can export results to a dBASE III file, which will easily read into an external GIS software, as a map data layer. More information on Vitalnet maps

⇒ Can I download Vitalnet results? Yes, in several useful ways.

Formats available for downloading Vitalnet results: • CSV / TSV / DIF - Import into Excel. • dBASE III - Import into GIS software, SAS, SPSS, etc. • ASCII Text - Import into Word. • HTML - Display in a browser. Import into Word. • Finally, you can email output links to coworkers or save them for future reference!

Note: None of the data within Vitalnet can be directly accessed or downloaded by users.

⇒ What are the hardware requirements? Minimal.

Disk and memory requirements are very low. For example, the year 2000 Texas death data file is 40 MB, but the Vitalnet data file is only 0.6 MB! That's over 60 times smaller! For example, a typical browser window uses 200 MB of RAM, but VitalPro (Vitalnet desktop program) uses 2 MB of RAM. That's 100 times smaller! Finally, Vitalnet usually takes only about a second to produce output.

⇒ What are the software requirements? Minimal.

VitalPro runs under any version of either Windows or Linux. The VitalWeb front-end runs in a browser on any computer. Any current browser is supported. We provide the VitalWeb back-end, on a secure server. Vitalnet does not require other commercial software (SAS, Oracle, etc.) to run.

⇒ Can I monitor program usage? Yes.

We realize the importance of monitoring usage for: • Producing budget reports. • Measuring program usage. • Determining common analyses.

Therefore, to meet your needs, Vitalnet provides the following information: • Counts of tables, maps, and charts. • Links to actual output produced. • Log files with a record for each output made.

⇒ How is Vitalnet licensed? It is a flat-rate license, depending on the number and type of data sets, and the number of users. A separate page on licensing.

⇒ Why should I license Vitalnet software? Many reasons.

• Save large amounts of money in development costs.
• Save large amounts of money in maintenance costs.
• Avoid huge risks, cost overruns, and hassles.
• Get the best available data warehouse solution.
• Increase user productivity, saving time and money.



• Make the best use of data for decision-making.
• Produce useful results and answers in seconds.
• Get your data correctly imported within a few days.
• Get guaranteed data integrity and performance.
• Meet the needs of both occasional and expert users.



• Get ready-to-use, clearly documented output.
• Greatly simplify procurement and administration.
• Minimize user training needs and costs.
• Get customizations for your requirements.
• Get technical support needed for project success.

⇒ What's the catch? There is no catch. We are ready to provide you with the professional data warehouse software and technical support you need to make the best use of your data, with guaranteed project success.

Please fill out our online contact form. Or call us at 888-709-5319 (PST). We look forward to learning about your needs, getting to know you, and helping make the best use of your data.