STATE AND TERRITORIAL EXCHANGE OF VITAL EVENTS (STEVE)
Births and deaths often occur away from a person's home state. States report public health statistics for all residents, and the federal government provides statistics for the entire nation. For these reasons, vital records jurisdictions must be able to share data with one another, the National Center for Health Statistics, and other authorized data partners. Data sharing between jurisdictions is governed by the Inter-Jurisdictional Exchange Agreement, which is facilitated by NAPHSIS.
​
To accomplish this important public health service, NAPHSIS developed the State and Territorial Exchange of Vital Events (STEVE) system. Using STEVE, vital records jurisdictions:
​
-
Send vital records that pertain to residents in other jurisdictions so the home state's reports include these important data,
- Send death information to the jurisdiction of birth so that birth certificates can be flagged as 'deceased,' an important step in preventing fraud and identity theft,
-
Send statistical data to the National Center for Health Statistics for inclusion in the National Vital Statistics System,
-
Provide data to authorized data partners for use in authorized public health and administrative purposes.
WHY IS STEVE IMPORTANT?
Through STEVE, vital records data are provided much more quickly to critical data partners including the National Vital Statistics System, other vital records jurisdictions, and authorized public health and administrative programs. STEVE also ensures the security and privacy of the data during transmission.
​
​
MAP OF JURISDICTIONS USING STEVE
