National Hospital Discharge Survey: 2006 U.S. Patient Records

The 2006 National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) collects medical and demographic information from a sample of hospital discharge records. It includes patient demographics, admission and discharge dates, diagnoses, procedures, and hospital characteristics. The data is coded using ICD-9-CM and was produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics.

Use Cases

• Analyze patient demographics and admission patterns based on sex, age, race, and marital status variables.
• Study diagnosis and procedure trends based on ICD-9-CM coded final diagnoses and surgical procedures.
• Model hospital resource utilization based on hospital characteristics like bedsize, ownership, and region.
• Investigate payment sources and discharge status based on the sources of payment and status at discharge variables.

Strengths

• Includes a defined set of variables covering patient demographics, medical procedures, diagnoses, and hospital characteristics.
• Medical information is standardized using the ICD-9-CM coding system.
• Data is collected annually from a national sample, suggesting a structured methodology.

Limitations

• Row count, file formats, and sample data are unknown, limiting suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

United States Department Of Health And Human Services. National Center For Health Statistics

Collection Method

Collected annually from a sample of hospital discharge records.

Time Range

2006

Freshness

Data is from the year 2006; update frequency is annual but current status is unknown.

Geography

United States