Past Surveys

At a glance

  • The National Health Care Surveys program has conducted many surveys over its history, some of which no longer collect data.
  • This page provides a summary of past health care surveys.
  • Learn more about accessing data and publications from these surveys on their websites, linked here.
The logo for the National Health Care Surveys family of surveys is a shield with 4 health-related icons.

National Home and Hospice Care Survey

The National Home and Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS) was a series of surveys of home health and hospice care agencies in the United States. NHHCS collected information about agencies that provided home health and hospice care and about their patients and discharges at the time of the survey. NHHCS used a probability sample of home health agencies and hospices. A probability sample is a smaller group randomly chosen from a larger group.

NHHCS included all agencies that were licensed or certified by Medicare or Medicaid.

Years survey was fielded: 1992–1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2007
Most recent year of available data: 2007

National Hospital Discharge Survey

The National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) provided nationally representative information about inpatients discharged from nonfederal, short-stay hospitals in the United States.

Hospitals could participate in NHDS only if they were—

  • General hospitals
  • Children's general hospitals
  • Facilities with an average length of stay of fewer than 30 days for all patients

NHDS did not include—

  • Federal, military, and Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals
  • Hospital units of institutions (such as prison hospitals)
  • Hospitals with fewer than six beds staffed for patient use

In 2007, approximately 366,000 inpatient records were obtained from 422 hospitals. Beginning in 2008 the sample was reduced to 239 hospitals.

Years survey was fielded: 1965–2010
Most recent year of available data: 2010

National Nursing Home Survey

The National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS) was a series of national sample surveys of nursing homes, their residents, and their staff. These national sample surveys collected data from a subset of all U.S. nursing homes.

Although each of these surveys emphasized different topics, they all provided some common basic information about nursing homes, their residents, and their staff. All nursing homes included in these surveys had at least three beds and were either certified by Medicare or Medicaid, or had a state license to operate as a nursing home.

Years survey was fielded: 1973–1974, 1977, 1985, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2004
Most recent year of data available: 2004

National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery

The National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery (NSAS) gathered data about ambulatory surgery visits in hospitals and freestanding ambulatory surgery centers. Ambulatory surgeries are same-day surgeries that don't involve admitting patients overnight. NSAS collected data from 1994 to 1996 and again in 2006. It was the only source of nationally representative data on ambulatory surgery.

In 2009, the National Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey (NHAMCS) began collection nationally representative ambulatory surgery data from hospitals. NHAMCS had collected data on hospital emergency departments and outpatient departments since 1992. From 2010 through 2012, NHAMCS collected ambulatory surgery data from both hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers.

NHAMCS stopped collecing data from ambulatory surgery centers in 2013. NHAMCS continued to collect ambulatory surgery data from hospitals through 2017. For more information visit the NHAMCS website.

Years NSAS survey was fielded: 1994–1996, 2006
Years of ambulatory surgery data in NHAMCS: 2009–2017
Years of ambulatory surgery data in ambulatory surgery centers in NHAMCS: 2010–2012
Most recent year of data available: 2010

National Survey of Residential Care Facilities

The National Survey of Residential Care Facilities (NSRCF) was the first ever national survey of residential care places. NSRCF collected data from—

  • Residential care facilities
  • Assisted living residences
  • Board and care homes
  • Congregate care
  • Enriched housing programs
  • Homes for the aged
  • Personal care homes

NSRCF also collected data from shared housing establishments that were licensed, registered, listed, certified, or otherwise regulated by a state.

NSRCF was designed to produce national estimates of these places and their residents.

Year survey was fielded: 2010
Most recent year of data available: 2010

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National Health Care Surveys