Administrative Databases
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Information about Medicare beneficiaries, Medicare claims, Medicare providers, clinical data, and Medicaid eligibility and claims are available to the public, subject to privacy release approvals and the availability of computing resources. A listing of files available by category can be found at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/FilesForOrderGenInfo/.
The SEER-Medicare data come from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program of cancer registries that collect clinical, demographic and cause of death information for persons with cancer and the Medicare claims for covered health care services from the time of a person's Medicare eligibility until death. There are two cohorts of people included in the SEER-Medicare data -- persons with cancer and a random sample of Medicare beneficiaries who do not have cancer, drawn from Medicare beneficiaries residing in the SEER areas.
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS)
MEPS is a set of large-scale surveys of families and individuals, their medical providers, and employers across the United States. MEPS data cover health care use and spending, insurance coverage, and accessibility of care.
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)
The HCUP databases bring together the data collection efforts of State data organizations, hospital associations, private data organizations, and the Federal government to create a national information resource of patient-level health care data. HCUP includes the largest collection of longitudinal hospital care data in the United States, with all-payer, encounter-level information beginning in 1988.
United States Renal Data System (USRDS)
The national data registry that collects, analyzes, and distributes information on the end-stage renal disease (ESRD) population in the U.S., including treatments and outcomes. The USRDS database is available to individuals with approved research proposals.