National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2002 (ICPSR 4405)

Principal Investigator(s): United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Center for Health Statistics

Summary: The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) provides data from samples of patient records selected from emergency departments (EDs) and outpatient departments (OPDs) of a national sample of hospitals. The resulting national estimates describe the use of hospital ambulatory medical care services in the United States. For the 2002 survey, data were collected from 224 OPDs and 376 EDs. Among the variables included are age, race, and sex of the patient, reason for the visit,... (more info)

Series: National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey Series

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U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. National Center for Health Statistics. NATIONAL HOSPITAL AMBULATORY MEDICAL CARE SURVEY, 2002. ICPSR04405-v1. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics [producer], 2004. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2006-02-17. doi:10.3886/ICPSR04405.v1

Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR04405.v1

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Summary:   The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) provides data from samples of patient records selected from emergency departments (EDs) and outpatient departments (OPDs) of a national sample of hospitals. The resulting national estimates describe the use of hospital ambulatory medical care services in the United States. For the 2002 survey, data were collected from 224 OPDs and 376 EDs. Among the variables included are age, race, and sex of the patient, reason for the visit, physician's diagnoses, cause of injury (EDs only), surgical procedures (OPDs only), medication therapy, and expected source of payment. For 2002, a number of updates and revisions have been made to the drug characteristics data. The variables CSTRATM and CPSUM have been added to assist in the computation of variances.

Subject Terms:   ambulatory care, emergency services, health care services, hospitalization, hospitals, injuries, medical care, medical evaluation, medical procedures, medical records, patient care, patients, payment methods, surgery, treatment

Geographic Coverage:   United States

Time Period:  

• 2002

Date of Collection:  

• 2002-01-01--2002-12-27

Universe:   Visits to the emergency and outpatient departments of noninstitutional general and short-stay hospitals within the 50 states and the District of Columbia, which had an average length of stay of less than 30 days, or to hospitals whose specialty was general (medical or surgical) or children's general. Excluded were federal hospitals, hospital units within institutions, and hospitals with less than six beds staffed for patient use.

Data Types:   administrative records data

Data Collection Notes:

(1) Per agreement with NCHS, ICPSR distributes the data files and text of the technical documentation for this collection as prepared by NCHS. (2) Detailed information regarding the use of weight variables and variance estimation is located in the User Guide.

Sample:   The NHAMCS used a four-stage probability design with samples of primary sampling units (PSUs), hospitals within PSUs, clinics within hospitals, and patient visits within clinics.

You can find more information via the sample characteristics utility.

You can find more information via the sample characteristics utility.

Weight:   Users should use the variable PATWT when performing analyses.

Data Source:

Patient visit records from hospital emergency departments and outpatient departments.

Original ICPSR Release:  2006-02-17

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