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National Home and
Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS)
 Public-use Data File

Survey description
Data file description
List of data file variables at a glance
Data file technical characteristics
Geographic coverage
Data availability
Ordering information
Documentation contents
Related reports
Contact
NHHCS web page

Survey description
The National Home and Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS) is a continuing series of surveys of home and hospice care agencies in the United States. Information was collected about agencies that provide home and hospice care and about their current patients and discharges. The NHHCS is based on a probability sample of home health agencies and hospices. The survey includes all type of agencies that provide home health and hospice care without regard to whether they are Medicare or Medicaid certified or whether they are licensed.

Home health agencies and hospices are usually defined in terms of the type of care they provide. Home health care is provided to individuals and families in their place of residence for the purpose of promoting, maintaining, or restoring health or for maximizing the level of independence while minimizing the effects of disability and illness, including terminal illness. Hospice care is defined as a program of palliative and supportive care services providing physical, psychological, social, and spiritual care for dying persons, their families, and other loved ones. Hospice services are available in both home and inpatient settings.

Data file description
All data collected in the NHHCS are contained on one CD-ROM for each year. Each CD-ROM consists of three files: agency, current patients, and discharged patients. Each record includes a common agency number to allow linkage between them. The CD-ROM has been edited to ensure consistency and to adjust for nonresponse.

List of data file variables at a glance

Agency file
Agency identifier codes
Number of current patients
Type of ownership
Affiliation
Certification status
1992: Number of full and part-time staff
Part-time staff hours
Nonpayroll staff hours
1993-94, 1996, and 1998, and 2000: Services available

Current patient file
Patient identifier code
Sex
Age
Race
Hispanic origin
Marital status
Current living arrangements
Referral source
Diagnoses at admission and at time of survey
1996: Surgical and diagnostic procedures
related to admission
Type of care received
Primary care giver and relationship
Aids used
Vision and hearing status
Activities of daily living
Instrumental activities of daily living
Services provided
Service providers
1992-94: Number of visits
Amount billed for care
1992-94,1998, and 2000: Dates covered by bill
Primary and secondary sources of payment

Discharged patient file
Patient  identifier code
Date of discharge
Sex
Age
Race
Hispanic origin
Marital status
Living arrangements at discharge
Referral source
Diagnoses at admission and discharge
1996, 1998, and 2000: Surgical and diagnostic procedures
related to admission
Reason for discharge
Type of care received
Primary care giver and relationship
Aids used
Vision and hearing status
Activities of daily living
Instrumental activities of daily living
Services provided
Service providers
1992-94: Number of visits
Amount billed for care
1992-94, 1998, and 2000: Dates covered by bill
Primary and secondary sources of payment

Data file technical characteristics

Geographic coverage
The NHHCS covers all types of home health and hospice care agencies in the United States. Geographic identifiers are available by the U.S. Bureau of Census regions and metropolitan statistical area (MSA) indicators.

Data availability
NHHCS data are collected periodically. Data are only available for individual years from 1992-94, 1996, 1998, and 2000.

Ordering information
The NHHCS can only be purchased through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). Call NTIS for current pricing. The NTIS order number is as follows:

Data on CD-ROM

Documentation content
Documentation  is included on the CD-ROM.

Related reports
A detailed discussion about the development of the NHHCS is available in the Vital and Health Statistics, Series 1, No. 33. Summary tables with final data for most of the information collected in the survey, technical notes on method and design, definitions of terms, and copies of the questionnaire are available in Series, 13, No. 117 (for 1992), No. 123 (for 1993) , No. 126 (for 1994), and No. 141 (for 1996) Vital and Health Statistics. Data from the NHHCS is also available in the Advance Data series.

Contact
Long-Term Care Statistics Branch
Division of Health Care Statistics
National Center for Health Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
3311 Toledo Road, Rm. 3409
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782-2003
(301) 458-4747

This page last reviewed September 09, 2008