Welch Medical Library Guides: Finding Datasets for Secondary Analysis: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)

About HCUP Databases

The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) includes the largest collection of longitudinal hospital care data in the United States. This page offers a list of databases offered by HCUP and the description. Only data from HCUPnet is freely available. The data sets in the other HCUP Databases are avaialble for purchase.

HCUPnet
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)
The system provides health care statistics and information for hospital inpatient, emergency department, and ambulatory settings, as well as population-based health care data on counties

Nationwide HCUP Databases

HCUP's Nationwide databases can be used to identify, track, and analyze national trends in health care utilization, access, charges, quality, and outcomes. The data are available for purchase.

National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample (NIS)
The National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample (NIS) is the largest all-payer inpatient care database in the United States, containing data on more than seven million hospital stays. Its large sample size is ideal for developing national and regional estimates and enables analyses of rare conditions, uncommon treatments, and special populations.
Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID)
The Kids' Inpatient Database (KID) is the largest publicly-available all-payer pediatric inpatient care database in the United States, containing data from two to three million hospital stays. Its large sample size is ideal for developing national and regional estimates and enables analyses of rare conditions, such as congenital anomalies, as well as uncommon treatments, such as organ transplantation.
Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS)
The Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) produces national estimates about emergency department (ED) visits across the country. The NEDS describes ED visits, regardless of whether they result in admission. One of the most distinctive features of the NEDS is its large sample size, which allows for analysis across hospital types and the study of relatively uncommon disorders and procedures.
Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD)
The Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD) is a unique and powerful database designed to support various types of analyses of national readmission rates for all payers and the uninsured. The NRD includes discharges for patients with and without repeat hospital visits in a year and those who have died in the hospital. Repeat stays may or may not be related. The criteria to determine the relationship between hospital admissions is left to the analyst using the NRD. This database addresses a large gap in health care data - the lack of nationally representative information on hospital readmissions for all ages.

State-Specific HCUP Databases

State Inpatient Databases (SID)
The State Inpatient Databases (SID) are State-specific files that contain all inpatient care records in participating states. Together, the SID encompass more than 95 percent of all U.S. hospital discharges. The uniform format of the SID helps facilitate cross-state comparisons. In addition, the SID are well suited for research that requires complete enumeration of hospitals and discharges within geographic areas or states.
State Ambulatory Surgery and Services Databases (SASD)
The State Ambulatory Surgery and Services Databases (SASD) are State-specific files that include data for ambulatory surgery and other outpatient services from hospital-owned facilities. In addition, some States provide ambulatory surgery and outpatient services from nonhospital-owned facilities. The uniform format of the SASD helps facilitate cross-State comparisons. The SASD are well suited for research that requires complete enumeration of hospital-based ambulatory surgeries within geographic areas or States.
State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD)
The State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD) are a set of longitudinal State-specific emergency department (ED) databases included in the HCUP family. The SEDD capture discharge information on all emergency department visits that do not result in an admission. Information on patients seen in the emergency room and then admitted to the hospital is included in the State Inpatient Databases (SID).