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The State Inpatient Databases (SID) 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 SID. For more details, see Overview of the SID (PDF file, 133 KB).
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The State Inpatient Databases (SID) are a powerful set of hospital databases from data organizations in 36 participating States.
The SID 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 SID (PDF file, 133 KB). |
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Researchers and policymakers use SID to investigate questions unique to one State; to compare data from two or more States; to conduct market area research or small area variation analyses; and to identify State-specific trends in inpatient care utilization, access, charges, and outcomes. The SID contain more than 100 clinical and nonclinical variables included in a hospital discharge abstract, such as:
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Thirty-six States now participate in the SID (Select to access contact information for the participating data organization in these States): Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Twenty of the thirty-six States make SID files available for purchase through the HCUP Central Distributor. These States include Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The HCUP Central Distributor can also provide information on how to obtain SID files from the other sixteen States. |
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The SID are well suited for research that requires complete enumeration of hospitals and discharges within market areas or States, that investigates questions unique to a State, or that requires data from two or more States. Recent studies using the SID include:
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The SID data set can be run on desktop computers with a CD-ROM reader, and comes in ASCII format. The data on the CD set require a statistical software package such as SAS or SPSS to use for analytic purposes. The data set comes with full documentation. SAS and SPSS users are provided programs for converting ASCII files. |
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For twenty of the thirty-six HCUP States, SID files for 1995-2002 are available through the AHRQ-sponsored HCUP Central Distributor. The HCUP Central Distributor can provide more detailed, descriptive information on the SID and assist purchasers in completing the application. Information on how to obtain uniformly formatted SID files from the other sixteen States is also available from the HCUP Central Distributor. |
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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:
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Additional information is available on the AHRQ Web site. If you have comments, suggestions, and/or questions, please contact hcup@ahrq.gov. |
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Internet Citation: HCUP Databases. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). September 2004. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/sidoverview.jsp. |
Last modified 9/16/04 |