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Description & Citation--Study No. 21560

Bibliographic Description

ICPSR Study No.:21560
 
Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR21560
 
Title:National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2005
 
Principal Investigator(s):United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Center for Health Statistics
 
Series:National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey Series
 
Bibliographic Citation:U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics. NATIONAL AMBULATORY MEDICAL CARE SURVEY, 2005 [Computer file]. ICPSR21560-v2. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics [producer], 2006. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2008-02-06. doi:10.3886/ICPSR21560
 

Scope of Study

Summary:The National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys (NAMCS) supply data on ambulatory medical care provided in physicians' offices. The 2005 survey contains information from 25,665 patient visits to 1,281 physicians' offices. Data are available on the patient's smoking habits, reason for the visit, expected source of payment, the physician's diagnosis, and the kinds of diagnostic and therapeutic services rendered. Other variables cover drugs/medications ordered, administered, or provided during office visits, with information on medication code, generic name and code, brand name, entry status, prescription status, federal controlled substance status, composition status, and related ingredient codes. Information is also included on the physician's specialization and geographic location. Demographic information on patients, such as age, sex, race, and ethnicity, was also collected.
 
Subject Term(s):ambulatory care, doctor visits, health care services, medical care, medical evaluation, medical records, medications, patient care, patients, physicians, prescription drugs, smoking, treatment
 
Geographic Coverage:United States
 
Time Period:2005
 
Date(s) of Collection:2005
 
Universe:Office visits made within the United States by patients of nonfederally-employed physicians who were primarily involved in office-based patient care activities, but not engaged in the specialties of radiology, pathology, or anesthesiology.
 
Data Type:administrative records data
 
Data Collection Notes:Per agreement with NCHS, ICPSR distributes the data file and text of the technical documentation for this collection as prepared by NCHS.
 

Methodology

Sample:The 2005 NAMCS utilized a multistage probability sample design. Primary sampling units (PSUs) were selected in the first stage, physician practices within PSUs in the second stage, and patient visits to selected physicians in the third stage.
 
Weight:Microdata file users should be fully aware of the importance of the "patient visit weight" (PATWT) and how it must be used. Information about the patient visit weight is presented in the codebook. If more information is needed, the staff of the Ambulatory Care Statistics Branch can be consulted by calling (301) 458-4600 during regular working hours. Prior to this data release, researchers could not make physician-level estimates with publicly available NAMCS data. For 2005, a new "physician weight" (PHYSWT) variable was added to the first record for each individual physician in the dataset.
 
Data Source:medical records
 

Access and Availability

Note:A list of the data formats available for this study can be found in the summary of holdings. Detailed file-level information (such as record length, case count, and variable count) is listed in the file manifest.
 
Restrictions:In preparing the data file for this collection, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has removed direct identifiers and characteristics that might lead to identification of data subjects. As an additional precaution, NCHS requires, under Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242m), that data collected by NCHS not be used for any purpose other than statistical analysis and reporting. NCHS further requires that analysts not use the data to learn the identity of any persons or establishments and that the director of NCHS be notified if any identities are inadvertently discovered. ICPSR member institutions and other users ordering data from ICPSR are expected to adhere to these restrictions.
 
Original ICPSR Release:2008-01-30
 
Version History:The last update of this study occurred on 2008-02-06.
 
  2008-02-06 - The setup files were updated.
 
Dataset(s):
  • DS1: National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2005
 

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