The National Health Care Surveys

What to know

• The National Health Care Surveys collect information from a broad spectrum of healthcare settings to look at trends in the type of care provided.
• The surveys are nationally representative and provider-based.
• Read more about survey content and whom to contact for further information.

Overview

The National Health Care Surveys are a family of surveys that provide information about—

• Organizations and providers that deliver health care
• The healthcare services they provide
• The patients they serve across diverse healthcare settings

Researchers, policymakers, and health professionals can use data from our surveys to understand providers, patients, and management and delivery of patient care in the United States.

About the surveys

The National Health Care Surveys include these current data collections:

• National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
• National Electronic Health Records Survey
• National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
• National Hospital Care Survey
• National Post-acute and Long-term Care Study

Our surveys are unique because they are—

• Nationally representative, accurately reflecting the diversity of health providers, services, patients, and facilities across the United States
• Provider-based, collecting data directly from the professionals who deliver healthcare services and operate healthcare facilities
• From a wide range of healthcare settings, with data and analysis that show the variety of ways health care is provided

Critical healthcare topics

Our surveys answer key questions of interest to health care policymakers, public health professionals, and researchers. These can include:

• Influences on and changes in the use of healthcare resources
• Healthcare quality and safety
• Healthcare costs and expenses
• Patterns of care for specific diseases and conditions
• Differences in the healthcare services provided to different groups
• Use of different treatments, like medications
• Use of different technologies, like electronic health records

Each of the National Health Care Surveys regularly collects data about a core set of topics that remains stable over time. This ensures that we can monitor trends in different healthcare settings accurately and reliably.

Our surveys also are flexible enough to add new topics and questions to gather data about emerging and changing healthcare issues.

Diverse healthcare settings

Our surveys collect data from healthcare providers, professionals, and administrators working in different healthcare settings.

We currently collect data directly from—

• Adult day services centers
• Health centers
• Hospital emergency departments
• Hospital inpatient departments
• Office-based providers
• Residential care communities

Our surveys can collect data from new and different providers and organizations as new information is needed.

We also analyze existing data from other settings provided by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. In addition, some of our surveys pull data from electronic health records provided from healthcare facilities.

CMS Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs‎

Learn more about how participating in some of our surveys can benefit providers and facilities through our partnership with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Get help and give feedback

The National Health Care Surveys have professionals dedicated to collecting, analyzing, and sharing critical healthcare information for the entire nation. We are here to help you understand and use our data.

For assistance with technical questions about our surveys, or to make suggestions or comments about how we can better serve you, please contact us via CDC-INFO.

October 16, 2024

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