Fact Sheet
The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) is a family of health care databases and related tools for research and decisionmaking. HCUP is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Background
The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) is a family of health care databases and related software tools developed through a Federal-State-industry partnership to build a multistate health data system for health care research and decisionmaking.
HCUP is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) as part of its mission to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of the Nation's health care system. This Fact Sheet summarizes current HCUP resources.
Databases
HCUP databases contain a core set of clinical and nonclinical information found in a typical discharge abstract including all-listed diagnoses and procedures, discharge status, patient demographics, and charges for all patients, regardless of payer (e.g., persons covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance, as well as no insurance). The information is translated into a uniform format to facilitate both multistate and national-State comparisons and analyses.
Further details, future updates, and links to all HCUP databases are available at:
http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/databases.jsp.
HCUP databases include:
State Inpatient Databases (SID)
The SID contain the universe of inpatient discharge abstracts from data organizations in more than 35
States. Together, the SID encompass more than 90 percent of all U.S. community hospital discharges; some States include hospital and county identifiers or discharges from specialty facilities such as psychiatric hospitals. Most SID States make their data available for purchase through the HCUP Central Distributor. Files are now available beginning with data year 1990.
State Ambulatory Surgery Databases (SASD)
The SASD contain data from ambulatory care encounters in hospital-affiliated (and sometimes, freestanding) ambulatory surgery sites in more than 20 States. Most SASD States make their data available for purchase from the HCUP Central Distributor. Files are available beginning with data year 1997.
State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD)
The SEDD, HCUP's most recently available databases, contain data from hospital-affiliated
emergency department abstracts for visits that do not result in a hospitalization.
More than 15 States participate in the SEDD; a few States make their data
available for purchase from the HCUP Central Distributor. Files are available
beginning with data year 1999.
Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS)
The largest all-payer inpatient care database in the United States, the NIS
contains data from approximately 8 million hospital stays from roughly 1,000
hospitals; this approximates a 20-percent stratified sample of U.S. community
hospitals. NIS data releases are available for purchase from the HCUP Central
Distributor for data years beginning in 1988. The number of States in the NIS
varies by year.
Kids' Inpatient Database (KID)
The KID is the only all-payer
inpatient care database for children
in the United States. KID data
releases are available for purchase
from the HCUP Central
Distributor for data years beginning in 1997; the number of States and
discharges varies by year. The 2003
KID contains a sample of 3 million
discharges for children age 20 and
younger from nearly 3,500 U.S.
community hospitals.
HCUP databases come in ASCII format and can be run on desktop computers with a CD-ROM reader. To use the data on the CD set, a statistical software package such as SAS® or SPSS® is needed. SAS® and SPSS® users are
provided programs for converting ASCII files. Prospective purchasers and all persons with access to HCUP
databases are required to read and sign a Data Use Agreement. For details on purchasing the databases, contact the HCUP Central Distributor:
E-mail: HCUPDistributor@ahrq.gov
Phone (toll free): (866) 556-4287
Fax: (866) 792-5313
Software Tools
AHRQ has developed free software tools that can be used, not only on the HCUP databases listed above, but also with other administrative databases. These tools can be downloaded without charge and include:
AHRQ Quality Indicators (QIs)
The AHRQ QIs are measures of health care quality that utilize readily available hospital inpatient
administrative data. The AHRQ QIs consist of four modules:
- Prevention Quality Indicators—Identify hospital admissions that evidence suggests could have been avoided, at least in part, through high-quality outpatient care.
- Inpatient Quality Indictors—Reflect quality of care inside hospitals,
including inpatient mortality for medical conditions and surgical procedures.
- Patient Safety Indicators—Also reflect quality of care inside hospitals but focus on potentially avoidable complications and iatrogenic events.
- Pediatric Quality Indicators—Reflect quality of care for children under age 18 and for newborns receiving care in hospitals and identify potentially avoidable hospitalizations among children.
More information on the AHRQ Quality Indicators, including downloading instructions, is available
at: http://qualityindicators.ahrq.gov.
Clinical Classifications Software (CCS) for ICD-9-CM
This tool provides a method for classifying diagnoses or procedures from the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification into clinically meaningful categories. These categories can be used for various
types of aggregate statistical reporting.
An overview of CCS for ICD-9-CM and downloading information are available at: http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/toolssoftware/ccs/ccs.jsp.
Clinical Classifications Software
for ICD-10
This tool provides a
method for classifying diagnoses
from the International Statistical
Classification of Disease and Related
Health Problems, 10th Revision into
clinically meaningful categories. These categories can be used for various types
of aggregate statistical reporting.
An
overview of CCS for ICD-10 and
downloading information are
available at: http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/toolssoftware/icd_10/ccs_icd_10.jsp.
Clinical Classifications Software
for Services and Procedures
This tool provides a method for classifying Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes into clinically meaningful procedure categories.
An overview of the CCS for Services and Procedures with downloading information is
available at: http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/toolssoftware/ccs_svcsproc/ccssvcproc.jsp.
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Clinical Classification
Software (CCS-MHSA)
This tool defines variables that identify
general categories for mental health and substance abuse-related ICD-9-CM diagnoses in hospital discharge records. It can be used with any
data that include ICD-9-CM diagnosis information.
An overview of CCS-MHSA and downloading information may be found at:
http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/toolssoftware/mhsa/mhsa.jsp.
Comorbidity Software
This tool assigns variables that identify coexisting conditions on hospital
discharge records using the ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes.
An overview of the Comorbidity Software and
downloading information can be found at: http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/toolssoftware/comorbidity/comorbidity.jsp.
Procedure Classes
Procedure
Classes permit categorizing ICD-9-CM procedure codes into one of
four broad categories: minor
diagnostic, minor therapeutic, major
diagnostic, and major therapeutic.
An overview of the Procedure
Classes and downloading
information may be found at: http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/toolssoftware/procedure/procedure.jsp.
Chronic Condition Indicator
This tool provides users an easy way
to categorize ICD-9-CM diagnosis
codes into one of two categories:
chronic or not chronic. It can also
assign ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes
into 1 of 18 body system categories.
An overview of the Chronic
Condition Indicator and
downloading information may be
found at: http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/toolssoftware/chronic/chronic.jsp.
Cost-to-Charge Ratio (CCR) Files
These hospital-level files are
designed to supplement the data
elements in the HCUP NIS and
SID databases and permit
conversion of hospital total charge
data to cost estimates.
An overview
of the CCR files and availability
information may be found at: http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/db/state/costtocharge.jsp.
Utilization Flags
Utilization Flags reveal additional information about use of health care services by combining information from UB-92 revenue codes and ICD-9-CM procedure codes to create flags, or indicators, of utilization. Use of procedures and services such as ICU, CCU, NICU, and specific diagnostic tests and therapies can be assessed with these Utilization Flags.
An overview of Utilization Flags and downloading information may be found at http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/toolssoftware/util_flags/utilflag.jsp.
Hospital Market Structure Files
The HCUP Hospital Market Structure Files are hospital-level files designed to supplement the data elements in the NIS, KID, and SID databases. The Hospital Market Structure File contains various measures of hospital market competition. These measures are aggregate and are meant to broadly characterize the intensity of competition that hospitals may be facing under various definitions of market area.
HCUPnet
HCUPnet is a free Web-based interactive service for identifying, tracking, analyzing, and comparing
statistics on hospital care. HCUPnet generates statistics using data from HCUP's Nationwide Inpatient Sample, Kids' Inpatient Database, and State Inpatient Databases for those States that have agreed to participate.
HCUPnet also provides statistics based on AHRQ's Patient Safety Indicators that have been applied to the NIS and includes a "Quick Statistics" option that provides ready-to-use tables with commonly requested information. HCUPnet data years are available beginning with 1997. Trend information is available beginning with 1993.
HCUPnet can be found at: http://hcupnet.ahrq.gov/.
For More Information
The HCUP User Support Web site at http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/techassist.jsp provides additional information on the HCUP products described above as well as other HCUP resources.
AHRQ Publication No. 06-P022
Replaces Publication No. 04-P014
Current as of May 2006
Internet Citation:
Databases and Related Tools from HCUP. Fact Sheet. AHRQ Publication No. 06-P022. May 2006. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/data/hcup/datahcup.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850