Hospital Drug Use and Overdose Indicators from NHCS Preliminary Data

The National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) provides preliminary data on patient care from 24 inpatient and 23 emergency department hospitals for October 2022 to September 2024. It includes indicators related to drug use, comorbidities, and drug and polydrug overdose to inform public health responses. The data, contributed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, are not yet nationally representative.

Use Cases

• Analyze drug overdose patterns using indicators like Fentanyl, Heroin, and Cocaine tags across inpatient and emergency department settings.
• Investigate patient comorbidities and polydrug overdose occurrences linked to ICD-10-CM codes within hospital records.
• Examine trends in Benzodiazepine and Amphetamine use over time from October 2022 to September 2024 in submitted UB-04 claims data.
• Study health care delivery patterns for drug-related hospitalizations segmented by hospital types such as general/acute or children's hospitals.

Strengths

• Data originates from a structured federal survey (NHCS) administered by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
• Covers a specific two-year time range from October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2024.
• Includes data from 47 distinct hospital submissions (24 inpatient, 23 ED) across various hospital types.

Limitations

• Data is explicitly labeled as preliminary and not nationally representative, limiting generalizability.
• The 2022-2024 NHCS survey cycle is not fully operational, which may affect data completeness and standard collection procedures.
• Specific row counts, column definitions, and sample data are unavailable, hindering initial assessment of dataset scale and structure.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services via the National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS).

Collection Method

Collected from hospital-submitted Uniform Bill (UB)-04 administrative claims for inpatient and emergency department care.

Time Range

October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2024.

Freshness

Last updated March 21, 2026, indicating recent maintenance.

Geography

United States, from participating hospitals.