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HEALTHCARE COST AND UTLIZATION PROJECT – HCUP
A FEDERAL-STATE-INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP IN HEALTH DATA
Sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
| These pages provide only an introductory overview to the NIS package. Full documentation is provided on the NIS Documentation CD-ROM. |
Issued October 2001
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
2101 East Jefferson Street, Suite 605
Rockville, Maryland 20852
Phone: (301) 594-3075
Fax: (301) 594-2166
Internet: hcup@ahrq.gov
NIS Data and Documentation Distributed by:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Phone: 800-553-6847
(703) 605-6000
HCUP NATIONWIDE INPATIENT SAMPLE ( NIS)
|
***** REMINDER ***** |
All users of the NIS must sign a data use agreement and send a copy to AHRQ.† Authorized users of HCUP data agree to the following limitations: ‡
Any violation of the limitations in the data use agreement is punishable under Federal law by a fine of up to $10,000 and up to 5 years in prison. Violations may also be subject to penalties under State statutes. |
† A copy of the Data Use Agreement is included on the NIS Documentation CD-ROM and is included at the end of this document. See next page for AHRQ’s address. |
Please submit signed data use agreements to HCUP at:
We would like to receive your feedback on the HCUP NIS data products.
Our internet address for user feedback and technical support is:
hcup@ahrq.gov
HEALTHCARE COST AND UTILIZATION PROJECT – HCUP
A FEDERAL-STATE-INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP IN HEALTH DATA
Sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) is part of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), formerly the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.
The NIS is a database of hospital inpatient stays. Researchers and policymakers use the NIS to identify, track, and analyze national trends in health care utilization, access, charges, quality, and outcomes.
The NIS is the largest all-payer inpatient care database that is publicly available in the United States, containing data from approximately 7 million hospital stays. The 1998 NIS contains all discharge data from about 1,000 hospitals located in 22 States, approximating a 20-percent stratified sample of U.S. community hospitals. The NIS is available for an 11-year time period, from 1988 to 1998, allowing analysis of trends over time.
The NIS is the only national hospital database with charge information on all patients, regardless of payer, including persons covered by Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, and the uninsured. The NIS's large sample size enables analyses of rare conditions, such as congenital anomalies; uncommon treatments, such as organ transplantation; and special patient populations, such as children.
Inpatient stay records in the NIS include clinical and resource use information typically available from discharge abstracts. Hospital and discharge weights are provided for producing national estimates. The NIS can be linked to hospital-level data from the American Hospital Association's Annual Survey of Hospitals and county-level data from the Bureau of Health Professions' Area Resource File, except in those states that do not allow the release of hospital identifiers.
The 1998 NIS differs from previous NIS releases: some data elements were dropped, some were added, for some data elements the coding was changed, and the sampling and weighting strategy was revised to improve the representativeness of the data.
Access to the NIS is open to users who sign data use agreements. Uses are limited to research and aggregate statistical reporting.
The Nationwide Inpatient Sample contains all-payer data on hospital inpatient stays from States participating in the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). Each year of the NIS provides information on approximately 5 million to 7 million inpatient stays from about 1,000 hospitals. All discharges from sampled hospitals are included in the NIS database.
The NIS contains patient-level clinical and resource use information included in a typical discharge abstract. The NIS can be linked directly to hospital-level data from the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey of Hospitals and to county-level data from the Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professions’ Area Resource File (ARF), except in those states that do not allow the release of hospital identifiers.
The NIS is designed to approximate a 20-percent sample of U.S. community hospitals, defined by the AHA to be "all nonfederal, short-term, general, and other specialty hospitals, excluding hospital units of institutions." Included among community hospitals are specialty hospitals such as obstetrics-gynecology, ear-nose-throat, short-term rehabilitation, orthopedic, and pediatric institutions. Also included are public hospitals and academic medical centers. Excluded are short-term rehabilitation hospitals (beginning with 1998 data) long-term hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and alcoholism/chemical dependency treatment facilities.
This universe of U.S. community hospitals is divided into strata using five hospitals characteristics: ownership/control, bed size, teaching status, urban/rural location, and U.S. region.
The NIS is a stratified probability sample of hospitals in the frame, with sampling probabilities proportional to the number of U.S. community hospitals in each stratum. The frame is limited by the availability of inpatient data from the data sources.
In order to improve the representativeness of the NIS, the sampling and weighting strategy was modified for 1998. The full descriptions of this process can be found in the special report on Changes in NIS Sampling and Weighting Strategy for 1998 which will be available from AHRQ in late 2001. To facilitate the production of national estimates, both hospital and discharge weights are provided, along with information necessary to calculate the variance of estimates. Detailed information on the design of the NIS is available in the year-specific special reports on Design of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample found on the NIS Documentation CD-ROM.
NIS data sets are currently available for multiple years, as shown in Table 1. Each release of the NIS includes:
| Data from | Media/format options | Structure of Releases | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
On CD-ROM, in ASCII format On magnetic tape, in EDCDIC or SAS transport format |
5 years of NIS data in a 26-CD set 4 CDs per year (one quarter per disk) Two 10% Subsamples of discharges for each year Each year sold separately |
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|
 |
On CD-ROM, in ASCII format |
1 year of data in a 6-CD set, structured for use on microcomputers Two 10% subsamples of discharges for each year |
|
|
On CD-ROM, in ASCII format |
1 year of data in a 2-CD set, compressed files Two 10% subsamples of discharges for each year |
Table 2 summarizes the data sources, number of hospitals, and number of inpatient stays in NIS data.
| Calendar Year | Data sources | Number of hospitals | Number of inpatient stays |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | CA CO FL IL IA MA NJ WA | 759 | 5,265,756 |
| 1989 | AZ CA CO FL IL IA MA NJ PA WA WI (Added AZ, PA, WI) |
882 | 6,110,064 |
| 1990 | AZ CA CO FL IL IA MA NJ PA WA WI (No change) |
871 | 6,268,515 |
| 1991 | AZ CA CO FL IL IA MA NJ PA WA WI (No change) |
859 | 6,156,188 |
| 1992 | AZ CA CO FL IL IA MA NJ PA WA WI (No change) |
856 | 6,195,744 |
| 1993 | AZ CA CO CT FL IL IA KS MD MA NJ NY OR PA SC WA WI (Added CT, KS, MD, NY, OR, SC) |
913 | 6,538,976 |
| 1994 | AZ CA CO CT FL IL IA KS MD MA NJ NY OR PA SC WA WI (No change) |
904 | 6,385,011 |
| 1995 | AZ CA CO CT FL IL IA KS MD MA MO NJ NY OR PA SC TN WA WI (Added MO, TN) |
938 | 6,714,935 |
| 1996 | AZ CA CO CT FL IL IA KS MD MA MO NJ NY OR PA SC TN WA WI (No change) |
906 | 6,542,069 |
| 1997 | AZ CA CO CT FL GA HI IL IA KS MD MA MO NJ NY OR PA SC TN UT WA WI (Added GA, HI, UT) |
1,012 | 7,148,420 |
| 1998 | AZ CA CO CT FL GA HI IL IA KS MD MA MO NJ NY OR PA SC TN UT WA WI (No change) |
984 | 6,827,350 |
Some data sources that contributed data to the NIS imposed restrictions on the release of certain data elements or on the number and types of hospitals that could be included in the database. Detailed information on these state-specific restrictions is available in the special report on Sources of NIS Data and State-specific Restrictions on the NIS Documentation CD-ROM.
There are two types of files included in the NIS: 1) data files and 2) documentation and tools files.
All releases of the NIS contain two types of data: inpatient stay records and hospital information with weights. Table 3 and Table 4 identify the data elements that can be found in the inpatient stay and hospital weights files, respectively. This is not complete documentation for the data; please refer to the NIS Documentation CD-ROM for full documentation on all data elements and for the record layout.
| Data Element | Description (numbers in brackets indicate variable coding) |
|---|---|
| AGE | Age in years at admission |
| AGEDAY | Age in days (coded only when the age in years is less than 1) at admission |
| AMONTH | Admission month |
| ASOURCE | Admission source: (1) ER, (2) another hospital, (3) another facility including long-term care, (4) court/law enforcement, (5) routine/birth/other |
| ASOURCE_X | Admission source, as received from data source.* |
| ATYPE | Admission type: (1) emergency, (2) urgent, (3) elective, (4) newborn, (6) other |
| AWEEKEND | Admission on weekend: (0) admission on Monday-Friday, (1) admission on Saturday-Sunday |
| DIED | Indicates in-hospital death: (0) did not die during hospitalization, (1) died during hospitalization |
| DISCWT | Discharge weight (on Core file and Hospital Weights file) |
| DISCWT10 | Discharge weight (on 10% subsample file) |
| DISPUB92 | Disposition of patient (discharge status), UB92 coding: (1) routine, (2) short term hospital, (3) skilled nursing facility, (4) intermediate care, (5) another type of facility, (6) home health care, (7) against medical advice, (8) home IV provider, (20) died in hospital, (40) died at home, (41) died in a medical facility, (42) died, place unknown, (50) Hospice, home, (51) Hospice, medical facility |
| DISPUniform | Disposition of patient (discharge status), uniform coding: (1) routine, (2) transfer to short term hospital, (3) other transfers, including skilled nursing facility, intermediate care, and another type of facility, (6) home health care, (7) against medical advice, (20) died in hospital |
| DQTR | Discharge quarter |
| DRG | Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) in use on discharge date |
| DRG10 | DRG Version 10 (effective October 1992 - September 1993). |
| DRG18 | DRG Version 18 (effective October 2000 - September 2001). |
| DRGVER | Grouper version in use on discharge date |
| DSHOSPID | Hospital number as received from the data source |
| DX1-DX15 | Principal and secondary diagnoses |
| DXCCS1-DXCCS15 | Clinical Classifications Software (CCS) category for all diagnoses |
| FEMALE | Gender of patient: (0) male, (1) female |
| HOSPID | HCUP hospital number (links to Hospital Weights file) |
| HOSPST | State postal code for hospital (e.g., AZ for Arizona) |
| HOSPSTCO | Modified Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) State/county code for hospital, links to Area Resource File (available from the Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration) |
| KEY | Unique record number |
| LOS | Length of stay, edited |
| LOS_X | Length of stay, as received from data source |
| MDC | Major Diagnosis Category (MDC) in use on discharge date |
| MDC10 | MDC Version 10 (effective October 1992 - September 1993). |
| MDC18 | MDC Version 18 (effective October 2000 - September 2001). |
| MDID_S | Synthetic attending physician number. |
| NDX | Number of diagnoses coded on the original record |
| NEOMAT | Neonatal/maternal flag: (0) not maternal or neonatal, (1) maternal diagnosis or procedure, (2) neonatal diagnosis, (3) maternal and neonatal on same record |
| NPR | Number of procedures coded on the original record |
| PAY1 | Expected primary payer, uniform: (1) Medicare, (2) Medicaid, (3) private including HMO, (4) self-pay, (5) no charge, (6) other |
| PAY1_X | Expected primary payer, as received from the data source.* |
| PAY2 | Expected secondary payer, uniform: (1) Medicare, (2) Medicaid, (3) private including HMO, (4) self-pay, (5) no charge, (6) other |
| PAY2_X | Expected secondary payer, as received from the data source* |
| PR1-PR15 | Principal and secondary procedures |
| PRCCS1-PRCCS15 | Clinical Classifications Software (CCS) for all procedures |
| PRDAY1-PRDAY15 | For each procedure, the number of days from admission |
| RACE | Race includes (1) white, (2) black, (3) Hispanic, (4) Asian or Pacific Islander, (5) Native American, (6) other |
| SURGID_S | Synthetic primary physician number |
| TOTCHG | Total charges, edited |
| TOTCHG_X | Total charges, as received from data source |
| YEAR | Calendar year |
| ZIPINC | Median income for patient's ZIP Code: (1) $1-$24,999, (2) $25,000-$34,999, (3) $35,000-$44,999, (4) $45,000 and above |
| *For categorical data elements with _X suffix, see Description of Data Elements (on the NIS Documentation CD-ROM) for state-specific coding. | |
| Data Element | Description (numbers in brackets indicate variable coding) |
|---|---|
| AHAID | AHA hospital identifier that matches AHA Annual Survey of Hospitals (not available for all states) |
| DISCWT | Weight to discharges in AHA universe |
| HOSPADDR | Hospital address from AHA Survey (not available for all states) |
| HOSPCITY | Hospital city from AHA Survey (not available for all states) |
| HOSPID | HCUP hospital number (links to inpatient Core files) |
| HOSPNAME | Hospital name from AHA Survey (not available for all states) |
| HOSPST | state postal code for hospital (e.g., AZ for Arizona) |
| HOSPWT | Weight to hospitals in AHA universe |
| HOSPZIP | Hospital zip code from AHA Survey (not available for all states) |
| HOSP_BEDSIZE | Bed size of hospital: (1) small, (2) medium, (3) large |
| HOSP_CONTROL | Control/ownership of hospital: (0) government or private, collapsed category, (1) government, nonfederal, public, (2) private, non-profit, voluntary, (3) private, invest-own, (4) private, collapsed category |
| HOSP_LOCATION | Location: (0) rural, (1) urban |
| HOSP_LOCTEACH | Location/teaching status of hospital: (1) rural, (2) urban non-teaching, (3) urban teaching |
| HOSP_REGION | Region of hospital: (1) Northeast, (2) Midwest, (3) South, (4) West |
| HOSP_TEACH | Teaching status of hospital: (0) non-teaching, (1) teaching |
| IDNUMBER | AHA hospital identifier without the leading 6 (not available for all states) |
| NIS_STRATUM | Stratum used to sample hospitals; includes geographic region, control, location/teaching status, and bed size |
| N_DISC_U | Number of AHA universe discharges in NIS_STRATUM |
| N_HOSP_U | Number of AHA universe hospitals in NIS_STRATUM |
| S_DISC_U | Number of sample discharges in NIS_STRATUM |
| S_HOSP_U | Number of sample hospitals in NIS_STRATUM |
| TOTAL_DISC | Total number of discharges from this hospital in the NIS |
| YEAR | Calendar year |
The hospital universe is defined by all hospitals that were open during any part of each calendar year and were designated as community hospitals in the AHA Annual Survey of Hospitals.
For more information on how hospitals in the data were mapped to hospitals as defined by the AHA, refer to the special report: HCUP Hospital Identifiers. For a list of all data sources, refer to: Sources of NIS Data and State-Specific Restrictions. For more detailed descriptions of the sampling design, refer to the year-specific special reports Design of the HCUP Nationwide Inpatient Sample. All reports can be found on the NIS Documentation CD-ROM.
To help ensure generalizability, five hospital sampling strata were defined based on hospital characteristics contained in the AHA Annual Survey of Hospitals. The stratification variables are:
Rural hospitals were not split according to teaching status, because rural teaching hospitals were rare.
To further ensure geographic representativeness, implicit stratification variables included state and three-digit zip code (the first three digits of the hospital’s five digit zip code). The hospitals were sorted according to these variables prior to systematic random sampling.
| Location and Teaching Status | Hospital Bed size | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | Medium | Large | |
| NORTHEAST | |||
| Rural | 1-49 | 50-99 | 100+ |
| Urban,non-teaching | 1-124 | 125-199 | 200+ |
| Urban, teaching | 1-249 | 250-424 | 425+ |
| MIDWEST | |||
| Rural | 1-29 | 30-49 | 50+ |
| Urban,non-teaching | 1-74 | 75-174 | 175+ |
| Urban, teaching | 1-249 | 250-374 | 375+ |
| SOUTH | |||
| Rural | 1-39 | 40-74 | 75+ |
| Urban, non-teaching | 1-99 | 100-199 | 200+ |
| Urban, teaching | 1-249 | 250-449 | 450+ |
| WEST | |||
| Rural | 1-24 | 25-44 | 45+ |
| Urban, non-teaching | 1-99 | 100-174 | 175+ |
| Urban, teaching | 1-199 | 200-324 | 325+ |
NIS information is provided on two CD-ROMs. The NIS data files are on CD-ROM #1 and the NIS documentation and tools are on CD-ROM #2.
In order to load NIS data onto your PC, you will need 4 gigabytes of space available. Because of the size of the files, the data are distributed as self-extracting PKZIP compressed files. To decompress the data, you should follow these steps:
The ASCII data files will then be uncompressed into this directory. After the files are uncompressed, the *.exe files can be deleted.
NIS documentation files on the Documentation CD-ROM provide important resources for the user. Refer to these resources to understand the structure and content of the NIS and to aid in using the NIS. Many of the documentation files are provided in portable document format (*.pdf) files. Files with the *.pdf extension can be viewed, searched, and printed using the Adobe™ Acrobat™ Reader.
You must have the Adobe™ Acrobat™ Reader software on your computer to access the NIS documentation. If you do not have Adobe™ Acrobat™ Reader software on your computer, see the README.TXT file on NIS Documentation CD-ROM for instructions on installing or obtaining the software.
The Acrobat™ Reader provided on the NIS Documentation CD-ROM is for IBM-compatible microcomputers running Microsoft Windows 95 or higher. More information and Acrobat™ Reader software for other platforms (DOS, Windows 3.1, Macintosh, Sun Systems, etc.) may be obtained free of charge from the Adobe Home Page at http://www.adobe.com/. For further assistance in installing and running the Adobe™ Acrobat™ Reader on your computer platform, please consult your local support personnel.
Table 6 describes the documentation and tools files that can be found on the NIS Documentation CD-ROM and illustrates the structure of the directories and subdirectories on the CD.
| Directory | Description |
|---|---|
| Root | Includes:
|
| /General Information | Includes:
|
| /Special Reports | Includes:
|
| /File Specifications | Includes data set name, number of records, record length, and record layout. One file per data file: Core, Core Subsample #1, Core Subsample #2, and Hospital Weights. |
| /Description of Data Elements | Includes information on all NIS variables such as uniform coding and state-specific information. One file per data type: Core and Hospital Weights. |
| /Summary Statistics | Includes summary statistics (means and frequencies) on NIS data. One file per data file: Core, Core Subsample #1, Core Subsample #2, and Hospital Weights. |
| /SAS Load Programs | SAS programming code to convert ASCII data files into SAS. One file per data file: Core, Core Subsample #1, Core Subsample #2, and Hospital Weights. |
| /SPSS Load Programs | SPSS programming code to convert ASCII data files into SPSS. One file per data file: Core, Core Subsample #1, Core Subsample #2, and Hospital Weights. |
| /HCUP Tools_Labels & Formats | Includes:
|
| /Adobe Acrobat Reader | Adobe Acrobat Reader files for IBM compatible for Microsoft Windows 95 or higher. |
The AHRQ Home Page on the World Wide Web is a source of information about HCUP databases and aggregate statistics from HCUP.
The address is: http://www.ahrq.gov/data/hcup/.
Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) releases are available from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS); call NTIS for prices at 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000. An online ordering option is available at http://www.ntis.gov/fcpc. All NIS releases are available on CD-ROM; NIS Release 1 may also be purchased on magnetic tape. Order by PB number.
State Inpatient Databases (SID) are hospital databases from data organizations participating in HCUP. The SID contain the universe of the inpatient discharge abstracts in the participating HCUP States, translated into a uniform format to facilitate multi-State comparisons and analyses. Together, the SID encompass about 60 percent of all U.S. community hospital discharges. For more information, visit: http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/sidoverview.jsp or call the HCUP Central Distributor (see below).
State Ambulatory Surgery Databases (SASD) are databases from data organizations in participating HCUP States, that capture surgeries performed on the same day in which patients are admitted and released. The SASD contain the ambulatory surgery encounter abstracts in participating States, translated into a uniform format to facilitate multi-State comparisons and analyses. All of the databases include abstracts from hospital-affiliated ambulatory surgery sites. Some contain the universe of ambulatory surgery encounter abstracts for that State, including records from both hospital-affiliated and freestanding surgery centers. Composition and completeness of data files may vary from State to State. For more information, visit: http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/sasdoverview.jsp or call the HCUP Central Distributor (see below).
Kids' Inpatient Database (KID)) is a unique database of hospital inpatient stays for children 18 years of age and younger. The KID was specifically designed to permit researchers to study a broad range of conditions and procedures related to child health issues. KID files for 1997 data are available through the AHRQ-sponsored HCUP Central Distributor (contact information below). For more information, visit: http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/kidoverview.jsp or call the HCUP Central Distributor (see below).
HCUP Central Distributor. Many of the HCUP State Partners allow the public release of the State Inpatient Databases (SID) and State Ambulatory Surgery Databases (SASD) through the AHRQ-sponsored HCUP Central Distributor. In addition, the KID is released through the Central Distributor. Information on how to obtain uniformly-formatted HCUP files from States not participating in the HCUP Central Distributor is also available from the HCUP Central Distributor:
HCUPnet is a Web-based query tool for identifying, tracking, analyzing, and comparing statistics on hospitals at the national, regional, and state level. With HCUPnet you have easy access to national statistics and trends and selected state statistics about hospital stays. HCUPnet guides you step by step to obtain the statistics you need. HCUPnet generates statistics using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), the Kids' Inpatient Database (KID), and the State Inpatient Databases (SID) for those states that have agreed to participate. HCUPnet can be found at: http://hcupnet.ahrq.gov/.
AHRQ Quality Indicators (QIs) the new Healthcare Improvement Indicators are clinical performance measures for use with readily available inpatient data. Methods and software for the Healthcare Improvement Indicators can be downloaded from http://www.qualityindicators.ahrq.gov/general_faq.htm.
Clinical Classifications Software (CCS)), formerly known as the Clinical Classifications for Health Policy Research (CCHPRs), are classification systems that group ICD-9-CM diagnoses and procedures into a limited number of clinically meaningful categories. Methods and software can be downloaded from http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/toolssoftware/ccs/ccs.jsp.
Comorbidity Software assigns variables that identify comorbidities in hospital discharge records using ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification). Methods and software can be downloaded from http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/toolssoftware/comorbidity/comorbidity.jsp.
HCUP Research Notes report aggregate statistics and detailed analyses using HCUP data. To request copies, contact the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse at (800) 358 9295 or send a postcard to: AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 8547, Silver Spring, MD 20907 or visit the AHRQ Home Page.
For information on HCUP products:
Email: hcup@ahrq.gov
Phone: (301) 594-3075
Fax: (301) 594-2166
This agreement must be signed by anyone seeking to use data in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) maintained by the Center for Organization and Delivery Studies(CODS), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) before access to such data can be granted. All data maintained by CODS/ AHRQ is confidential or proprietary except data specified for restricted access public release, or data authorized by AHRQ and the original data source for re-release.
Under section 924(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 299c-3(c)), data that identifies individuals or establishments collected by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) may be used only for the purpose for which they were collected. Data supplied to AHRQ under the auspices of HCUP were provided by the data sources only for research, analysis, and aggregate statistical reporting.
No identification of persons--Any effort to determine the identity of any person contained in the databases (including but not limited to patients, physicians, and other health care providers) or to use the information for any purpose other than for research, analysis, and aggregate statistical reporting would violate the conditions of this data use agreement and therefore the above-referenced AHRQ confidentiality statute. Furthermore, under the statute, no identifying information may be published or released in any way without the consent of the person who supplied the information or who can be identified by the information. AHRQ omits from the data set all direct personal identifiers, as well as characteristics that might lead to identification of persons. It may be possible in rare instances, through complex analysis and with outside information, to ascertain from the data sets the identity of particular persons. Considerable harm could ensue if this were done. By virtue of this agreement, the undersigned agrees that such attempts will be prohibited and that information which could identify individuals directly or by inference will not be released or published. Because of these restrictions, users of the data must agree that they will not attempt to contact individuals for the purpose of verifying information supplied in the HCUP databases. Any questions about the data must be referred to AHRQ only.
Use of Establishment identifiers--Section 924(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 299c-3(c) ) also restricts the use of any information that allows the identification of establishments to the purpose for which the information was collected. Permission was obtained from the data sources (state data organizations, hospital associations, and data consortia) to use the identification of hospitals (when such identification appears in the data sets) for the purpose of conducting research only. Such research purpose includes linking institutional information from outside data sets for analysis and aggregate statistical reporting. Such purpose does not include the use of information in the data sets concerning individual establishments for commercial or competitive purposes involving those individual establishments, or to determine the rights, benefits, or privileges of establishments. Users of the data must not identify establishments directly or by inference in disseminated material. In addition, users of the data must not contact establishments for the purpose of verifying information supplied in the HCUP databases. Any questions about the data must be referred to AHRQ only.
The undersigned gives the following assurances with respect to the AHRQ data sets.
I understand that these assurances are collected for the United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to require compliance with its statutory confidentiality requirement. My signature indicates my agreement to comply with the above-stated requirements with the knowledge that any violation of this statute is subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 under 42 U.S.C. 299c-3(d), and that deliberately making a false statement about this or any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the Federal Government violates 18 U.S.C. 1001 and is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 or up to five years in prison. Violators of this agreement may also be subject to penalties under state confidentiality statutes that apply to these data for particular states.
Signed:___________________________________________________________ Date:_________________________
|
Print or Type Name:_______________________________________________________________________
|
Title:__________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
Organization:____________________________________________________________________________________________
|
Address:________________________________________________________________________________________________
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City:______________________________________________________ State:__________ ZIP Code:____________________
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Phone Number:______________________________________________ Fax: ________________________________________
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E-mail:________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Note to Purchaser: Shipment of the data product will only be made to the person who signs this data use agreement.
| Additional information is available on the AHRQ Website. If you have comments, suggestions, and/or questions, please contact hcup@ahrq.gov. |
| Are you having problems viewing or printing pages on this Website? |
|
Internet Citation: 1998 NIS Introduction.
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). June 2008 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/db/nation/nis/NIS_Introduction_1998.jsp. |
| Last modified 6/27/08 |