72 Nationwide Readmissions Sample (NRD)

72.1 Organization

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS

72.3 Description

  • HIPPA-compliant, patient-level
  • Includes data on 1ry and 2ry diagnoses and procedures, discharge status, demographics, hospital characteristics, expected payment source, total charges, length of stay and severity and comorbidity measures.
  • The NRD includes discharges for patients with and without repeat hospital visits in a year and those who have died in the hospital.
  • Patient linkage numbers allow tracking patients across multiple admissions and hospitals within a State.
  • Timing between admissions can be calculated
  • Repeat stays may or may not be related
  • Four data files per year (Core, Hospital, Severity and Diagnosis/Procedure) except for 2015 which has 6 (Severity and Diagnosis/Procedure split into 2 each)

72.4 Vintage/Release Frequency

Annual since 2010

72.5 Observational Unit

Hospital inpatient admission

72.6 Collection Methodology

  • Sampled from the State Inpatient Databases (SID)
  • 20% stratified sample of hospital-owned EDs in the US (States and DC)
  • Stratification is based on geographic region, trauma center designation, urban-rural location, teaching hospitals and hospital ownership or control.
  • Data obtained from inpatient discharge abstracts provided by participating organizations and then translated into a uniform format.

72.7 Available at

Available for purchase by year. CPHR currently has 2010-2019

72.9 Cost

Cost varies by year

72.10 Proposal or Application required?

Application form required

72.11 DUA required?

Yes

72.12 Special Notes

  • Query and classify patients using ICD
  • There is a patient linking variable that allows tracking a particular patient across a calendar year
  • Up to the 3rd quarter of 2015, diagnosis and procedure codes are coded using ICD-9. In the 4th quarter of 2015 the transition to ICD-10 is done. Because of this the file structure for 2015 is different than previous years.
  • Cost-to-Charge Ratio Files enable conversion from the reported charges to costs
  • All users must complete a Data Use Agreement Training and sign a DUA
  • Before publishing with any HCUP database, ensure manuscript follows requirements of the HCUP DUA and includes the appropriate citation (see https://www.hcup- us.ahrq.gov/db/publishing.jsp)