Hospital Inpatient Discharges (SPARCS De-Identified): Cost Transparency: Beginning 2009

New York State Article 28 hospitals submit discharge volume, cost, and charge data as part of the SPARCS and ICR reporting systems. The dataset includes 14 columns such as APR-DRG code, severity of illness, facility name, and median cost per discharge. Data is published by health.data.ny.gov and was last updated in April 2025.

Use Cases

• Analyze cost variation by APR-DRG Code and APR Severity of Illness Description across different Facility Names.
• Model median hospital charges using APR Medical Surgical Description and Discharges volume.
• Compare Mean Cost and Median Cost distributions by Year and APR Severity of Illness Code.
• Cluster facilities by cost and volume profiles using Facility Id, Discharges, Mean Charge, and Mean Cost.

Strengths

• Contains 14 specific columns detailing clinical classification, costs, charges, and facility information.
• Data is submitted by New York State Article 28 hospitals as part of mandatory SPARCS and ICR reporting.
• Time series begins in 2009, providing a multi-year perspective on hospital costs.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

health.data.ny.gov

Collection Method

Submitted by New York State Article 28 Hospitals as part of the SPARCS and Institutional Cost Report (ICR) data submissions.

Time Range

Beginning 2009

Freshness

Last updated 2025-04-02 14:08:50; freshness should be verified.

Geography

New York State, United States