The 2004 National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS), conducted between August and December of 2004, was reintroduced into the field after a five-year break, during which time the survey was redesigned and expanded to collect many new data items. All nursing homes that participated in the NNHS had at least three beds and were either certified (by Medicare or Medicaid) or had a state license to operate as a nursing home. The redesigned survey was administered using a computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) system. The National Nursing Home Survey provides information on nursing homes from two perspectives-that of the provider of services and that of the recipient of care. Data about the facilities include characteristics such as size, ownership, Medicare/Medicaid certification, services provided and specialty programs offered, and charges. For recipients, data were obtained on demographic characteristics, health status and medications taken, services received, and sources of payment.

Data for the survey were obtained through personal interviews with facility administrators and designated staff who used administrative records to answer questions about the facilities, staff, services and programs, and medical records to answer questions about the residents.

The total number of nursing home facilities that participated in NNHS is 1,174.

The 2004 National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS), conducted between August and December of 2004, was reintroduced into the field after a five-year break, during which time the survey was redesigned and expanded to collect many new data items. All nursing homes that participated in the NNHS had at least three beds and were either certified (by Medicare or Medicaid) or had a state license to operate as a nursing home. The redesigned survey was administered using a computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) system. The National Nursing Home Survey provides information on nursing homes from two perspectives-that of the provider of services and that of the recipient of care. Data about the facilities include characteristics such as size, ownership, Medicare/Medicaid certification, services provided and specialty programs offered, and charges. For recipients, data were obtained on demographic characteristics, health status and medications taken, services received, and sources of payment.

Data for the survey were obtained through personal interviews with facility administrators and designated staff who used administrative records to answer questions about the facilities, staff, services and programs, and medical records to answer questions about the residents.

The total number of nursing home facilities that participated in NNHS is 1,174.

The National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS), conducted from 1965 to 2010, was a national probability survey designed to meet the need for information on characteristics of inpatients discharged from non-Federal short-stay hospitals in the United States. From 1988-2007 the NHDS collected data from a sample of approximately 270,000 inpatient records acquired from a national sample of about 500 hospitals. From 2008 to 2010 the sample size was reduced to 239. Only hospitals with an average length of stay of fewer than 30 days for all patients, general hospitals, or children’s general hospitals are included in the survey. Federal, military, and Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, as well as hospital units of institutions (such as prison hospitals), and hospitals with fewer than six beds staffed for patient use, are excluded.

Beginning in 1988, two data collection procedures have been used in the survey. The medical abstract form and the automated data tapes contain items that relate to the personal characteristics of the patient. These items include age, sex, race, ethnicity, marital status, and expected sources of payment. Administrative items such as admission and discharge dates (which allow calculation of length of stay), as well as discharge status are also included. Medical information about patients includes diagnoses and procedures coded to the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM).