National Hospital Care Survey-CMS Medicare

NCHS Linked Data

Key points

  • The National Center for Health Statistics Data Linkage Program provides restricted-use National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) data with data from other agencies.
  • NHCS restricted-use data is linked to administrative data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Medicare program, which enables researchers to conduct studies to advance public health and health care.
  • Find a list of data dictionaries and resources for restricted-use data.
Image shows two swarms of dots, one purple and one green. Each swarm represents a data stream. They are converging.

Overview

The National Center for Health Statistics Data Linkage Program provides restricted-use data files to researchers by permission only. Files are available for restricted-use data linked between the —

The National Center for Health Statistics links NHCS restricted-use data with Medicare data to expand opportunities to study health care. Such studies investigate health care use and expenditures among the elderly U.S. population and people receiving Medicare disability benefits.

The National Center for Health Statistics matched NHCS patient records to Medicare administrative records for the following—

  • Medicare enrollment
  • Claims/encounters data

CMS then provided the National Center for Health Statistics with Medicare enrollment and healthcare claims or encounters data for all successfully matched patient records.

Available data years

2020 NHCS
  • 2020–2021 CMS Medicare Master Beneficiary Summary File (MBSF)
  • Claims/encounters
2019 NHCS
  • 2019–2020 CMS Medicare MBSF
  • Claims/encounters
2016 NHCS
  • 2016–2017 CMS Medicare MBSF
  • Claims/encounters
  • Assessment data
2014 NHCS
  • 2014–2015 CMS Medicare MBSF
  • Claims
  • Assessment data

Restricted-use

Restricted-use linked NHCS-CMS Medicare data can be accessed through the National Center for Health Statistics Research Data Center (RDC) network only for approved research projects.

Access restricted-use data

The RDC provides instructions for preparing and submitting an application to access restricted data.
Learn more

Data dictionaries

Linkage eligibility

Master beneficiary summary

Medicare Part D prescription drug event/drug characteristics

Medicare provider analysis and review

Linkage eligibility

Master beneficiary summary

Medicare Part D prescription drug event/drug characteristics

Medicare provider analysis and review

Carrier

Durable medical equipment (DME)

Home health agency (HHA)

Hospice

Inpatient

Outpatient

Skilled nursing facility (SNF)

Carrier

DME

HHA

Inpatient

Outpatient

SNF

Home health outcome and assessment information set (OASIS)

Long-term care minimum data set (MDS)

Linkage eligibility

Master beneficiary summary

Linkage methods and analytical support

2019 NHCS-2019-2020 Medicare and 2020 NHCS-2020-2021 Medicare

2016 NHCS-2016–2017 Medicare

2014 NHCS-2014–2015 Medicare

Resources

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Content Source:
National Center for Health Statistics