The North Carolina Health Professions Data System (HPDS) exists in close partnership with the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program, and in collaboration with the North Carolina health professional licensing boards. The HPDS contains licensure files for 19 health professions, with annual files on most professions dating back to 1979.

This system represents one of the most comprehensive health professions databases in the country, as well as one of the few that is continuously maintained. Every year in October, the HPDS publishes data on the supply and distribution of health professionals in North Carolina. The HPDS also regularly produces other profession-specific reports and analyses using these data, and these analyses are used to shape health workforce policy and planning in the State.