The Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) convened a workshop on November 4-5, 1999, to identify new directions for health statistics and the implications for health data of changes in the health arena faced by DHHS, state and local health departments, the consumers, developers, and providers of health care products and services, and other health policy makers. Changes in our understanding of health, in health care (managed care, Medicaid, Medicare), in welfare reform, in federal-state relations, in the availability of administrative data, in advanced genetic data, in information technology, in confidentiality issues, and in data integration are examples of recent developments that may play a significant role for DHHS in making future policy decisions.