The State Ambulatory Surgery Databases (SASD) are one in a family of databases and software tools developed as part of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). A Federal-State-Industry partnership sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HCUP data inform decision making at the national, State, and community levels. This page provides an overview of the SASD. For more details, see Overview of the SASD (PDF file, 121 KB).

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Contents:

• What Are the SASD?
• What Data Elements Are in the SASD?
• What States Make Up the SASD?
• How Are the SASD Used?
• Hardware and Software Requirements
• How Can Users Obtain SASD Data?
• Need Help?

The State Ambulatory Surgery Databases (SASD) are a powerful set of databases, from data organizations in 20 participating States, that capture surgeries performed on the same day in which patients are admitted and released. SASD data are available for the years 1997-2002.

• The SASD contain the ambulatory surgery encounter abstracts in participating States, translated into a uniform format to facilitate multi-state comparisons and analyses.
• All of the databases include abstracts from hospital-affiliated ambulatory surgery sites. Some contain the universe of ambulatory surgery encounter abstracts for that State, including records from both hospital-affiliated and freestanding surgery centers. Composition and completeness of data files may vary from State to State.
• The SASD contain a core set of clinical and non-clinical information on all patients, regardless of payer, including persons covered by Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, and the uninsured.
• In addition to the core set of uniform data elements common to all SASD, some include other elements, such as the patient's race.

The SASD contains clinical and resource use information included in a typical discharge abstract, with safeguards to protect the privacy of individual patients, physicians, and hospitals (as required by data sources).

The SASD excludes data elements that could directly or indirectly identify individuals. Purchase of the files is open to all users who sign a Data Use Agreement (PDF file, 47 KB). Users must agree to use the database for research and statistical purposes only and to make no attempts to identify individuals.

Identities of institutions are available only in States where data sources already make that information public or agree to its release. For these institutions and for research purposes only, linkage is possible to data from the Annual Survey of the American Hospital Association.

Select for the Overview of the SASD (PDF file, 121 KB).

Researchers and policymakers use the SASD to:

• Compare inpatient surgery data with ambulatory surgery data
• Conduct market area research or small area variation analyses
• Identify State-specific trends in ambulatory surgery utilization, access, charges, and outcomes.

The SASD contain more than 100 clinical and non-clinical variables included in a hospital discharge abstract, such as:

• Principal and secondary diagnoses (e.g., breast cancer, coronary artery disease)
• Principal and secondary procedures (e.g., lumpectomy, angiography)
• Discharge status
• Patient demographics (e.g., gender, age, and, for some States, race)
• Expected payment source (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, self-pay; for some States, additional discrete payer categories, such as managed care)
• Total charges
• Hospital identifiers that permit linkage to inpatient hospital databases, such as the AHRQ-sponsored State Inpatient Databases (SID), and to the American Hospital Association Annual Survey File
• For some States, hospital county identifiers that permit linkage to the Area Resource File.

A list of SASD variables available by State is provided under SASD Database Documentation. This section also includes a detailed description of each SASD variable. The SASD excludes data elements that could directly or indirectly identify individuals.

Eighteen States now participate in the SASD (Select to access contact information for the participating data organization in these States):

Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Eight of the eighteen States make SASD files available for purchase through the HCUP Central Distributor. These States include Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Utah, and Wisconsin. The HCUP Central Distributor can also provide information on how to obtain SASD files from the other ten States.

For eight of the eighteen States, SASD files for 1997-2002 are available through the AHRQ-sponsored HCUP Central Distributor. The HCUP Central Distributor can provide more detailed, descriptive information on the SASD and assist purchasers in completing the application. Information on how to obtain uniformly formatted SASD files from the other ten States is also available from the HCUP Central Distributor.

For answers to commonly asked questions regarding HCUP databases and tools, please review the Frequently Asked Questions. If you cannot find an answer to your question, please contact HCUP User Support Staff.

To reach HCUP User Support, please contact us by e-mail or phone:

• e-mail: hcup@ahrq.gov
• Phone (toll free): 1-866-290-HCUP

We review messages daily and will respond to all inquiries within 3 business days.