Data are based on information from all death certificates filed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia and processed by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Restricted data available through the Research Data Center include geographical indicators, exact date of birth and death of decedent, among others.

Through its data linkage program, NCHS has been able to expand the analytic utility of the data collected from National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) by augmenting it with mortality data from the National Death Index (NDI). Linkage of NHCS data with the NDI mortality data provides the opportunity to conduct a vast array of outcome studies designed to investigate the association of a wide variety of health factors with mortality.

Through its data linkage program, NCHS has been able to expand the analytic utility of the data collected from the National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) by augmenting it with 2014-2018 administrative data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Medicare program. Linkage of NHCS data with the CMS Medicare Data provides the opportunity to conduct a vast array of studies on health care utilization and expenditures among the elderly U.S. population and persons receiving Medicare disability benefits.

NCHS has linked 1999-2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and 1999-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to administrative data through 2019 for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) largest housing assistance programs: the Housing Choice Voucher program, public housing, and privately owned, subsidized multifamily housing. Linkage of NCHS survey participants with HUD administrative records provides the opportunity to examine relationships between housing and health.

NCHS has linked data from various surveys with Medicare program enrollment and health care utilization and expenditure data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Linkage of the NCHS survey participants with the CMS Medicare data provides the opportunity to study changes in health status, health care utilization and costs, and prescription drug use among Medicare enrollees. Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older, certain younger people with disabilities, and people with End-Stage Renal Disease.

NCHS has linked data from various surveys with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) data obtained from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS). Linkage of the data from NCHS survey participants with the USRDS ESRD data provides the opportunity to study changes in health status and health care utilization among patients diagnosed with ESRD.

Through its data linkage program, NCHS has been able to expand the analytic utility of the data collected from the 2014 and 2016 National Hospital Care Surveys (NHCS) by linking patient records with up to three years of administrative housing data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) largest housing assistance programs: the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, Public Housing (PH) , and privately owned, subsidized Multifamily housing (MF). These innovative linked data will support a wide array of patient outcomes studies, including the opportunity to study complex relationships between housing and health.

NCHS has linked data from various surveys with death certificate records from the National Death Index (NDI). Linkage of the NCHS survey participant data with the NDI mortality data provides the opportunity to conduct a vast array of outcome studies designed to investigate the association of a wide variety of health factors with mortality. The Linked Mortality Files (LMF) have been updated with mortality follow-up data through December 31, 2019.

The Drug-Involved Mortality (DIM) data are an enhancement to the National Vital Statistics System, Mortality data providing information on substances, as well as prescription (using generic names only – no trademarks) and illicit drugs mentioned on death certificates of residents of the United States and the District of Columbia. Data files were created by examining the literal text of three fields on the death certificate: Part I-Cause of Death, Part II –Significant Conditions Contributing to Death and Box 43, a verbatim description of how the injury occurred. The DIM data system does not support individual examination of “literal text” and the actual variables showing free-form text are not included in these files.

The National Electronic Health Records Survey (NEHRS) is an annual survey of non-federally employed, office-based physicians practicing in the United States (excluding those in the specialties of anesthesiology, radiology, and pathology). NEHRS began in 2008 and was originally designed as an annual mail supplement to the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS). Since 2012, NEHRS has been administered as a survey independent of NAMCS.
Data from NEHRS can be used to produce state and national estimates of EHR adoption and capabilities, burden associated with EHRs, and progress physicians have made towards meeting the policy goals of the HITECH Act. In more recent years, survey questions have also asked about Promoting Interoperability programs, sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Restricted file data dictionaries are available.