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Statistics and Data Sources by Subject

Medicine and Public Health

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): State Snapshots 

AHRQ is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 

"The State Snapshots provide state-specific health care quality information, including strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. The goal is to help state officials and their public- and private-sector partners better understand health care quality and disparities in their state." (source: website)

 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): 

  • Data site

  • FastStats (from National Center for Health Statistics at the CDC)

"The FastStats site provides quick access to statistics on topics of public health importance and is organized alphabetically. Links are provided to publications that include the statistics presented, to sources of more data, and to related web pages."  (source: website)  FastStats mobile app also available. 

(Also, see the National Center for Health Statistics entry below.)

 

The Demographic and Health Surveys Program

From U.S. Agency for International Development (U.S. AID)

Widely considered one of the most important sources of health information pertaining to developing countries. The data is used when evaluating health, nutrition, and population programs. Topics include: child survival rates, family planning, HIV/AIDS/sexually transmitted infections (STIs), infectious diseases, maternal and child health, nutrition and reproductive health. Includes data from more than 300 surveys in more than 90 countries. Includes summary level statistics and microdata (available free for academic use following free registration).

 

Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)

From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 

"HCUP is the Nation's most comprehensive source of hospital data, including information on in-patient care, ambulatory care, and emergency department visits. HCUP enables researchers, insurers, policymakers and others to study health care delivery and patient outcomes over time, and at the national, regional, State, and community levels...HCUP databases are derived from administrative data and contain encounter-level, clinical and non-clinical information including all-listed diagnoses and procedures, discharge status, patient demographics, and charges for all patients regardless of payer (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, uninsured), beginning in 1988." (source: website)

 

Healthdata.gov

This site is dedicated to making high value health data more accessible to entrepreneurs, researchers, and policy makers in the hopes of better health outcomes for all.
 

HIV/AIDS Surveillance Data Base

Presented by US Census and supported by the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

 

IPUMS-DHS

From Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota

"IPUMS-DHS is a project designed to help researchers conduct comparative analyses of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), the main source of information on health in the developing world." The microdata come from nationally-representative health surveys carried out in low and middle resource countries since the 1980s to present. (source: website)

 

Integrated Health Interview Series

From Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota

Annual harmonized microdata on people in the U.S. National Health Interview Survey from the 1960s to the present. 

 

Medicaid Data Sources 

From the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

Also, see the Non-Identifiable Data Files page for links to additional datasets available for public use

 

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS)

From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 

"MEPS is a set of large-scale surveys of families and individuals and their medical providers, and employers across the United States, conducted annually since 1996...The most complete source of data on the cost and use of health care and health insurance coverage in the United States...MEPS is the only national data source measuring how Americans use and pay for medical care, health insurance, and out-of-pocket spending. Annual surveys of individuals and families, as well as their health care providers, provide data on health status, the use of medical services, charges, insurance coverage, and satisfaction with care." (source: website)

 

Medicare.gov: data

From the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Includes the following datasets: Hospital Compare, Nursing Home Compare, Physician Compare, Home Health Compare, Dialysis Facility Compare, Supplier Directory, Hospice Data Directory.

 

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)

The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report is prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Often called “the voice of CDC,” the MMWR  series is the agency’s primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations.

 

National Center for Health Statistics

From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Click the "Data and Tools" tab for access to public use data files and documentation, data tools, data visualizations, and data analysis aids.

 

National Library of Medicine resources:

"Health Statistics provide information for understanding, monitoring, improving and planning the use of resources to improve the lives of people, provide services and promote their well-being. This course describes the range of available health statistics, identifies their sources and helps you understand how to use information about their structure as you search."

"Serving the Information Needs of the Health Services Research Community"

 

"...includes some of the major sources of health and general statistics in the United States and a brief list of international resources."

 

National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) Tables

Morbidity Tables

Data for selected nationally notifiable diseases reported by the 50 states, New York City, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories are collated and published weekly in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Cases reported by state health departments to CDC for weekly publication are provisional because of the ongoing revision of information and delayed reporting. Case counts in these query tables are presented as they were published in the MMWR. Therefore, numbers listed in later MMWR   weeks may reflect changes made to these counts as additional information becomes available.

Mortality Tables

Data for selected nationally notifiable diseases reported by the 50 states, New York City,  the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories are collated and published weekly in  the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Cases reported by state health  departments to CDC for weekly publication are provisional because of the ongoing revision of  information and delayed reporting. Case counts in these query tables are presented as  they were published in the MMWR. Therefore, numbers listed in later MMWR   weeks may reflect changes made to these counts as additional information becomes available.

 

World Health Organization (WHO): Health Data and Statistics

Includes the following:

Also available: WHO's Global Health Expenditure Database, which "provides internationally comparable numbers on national health expenditures. WHO updates the data annually, taking, adjusting, and estimating the numbers based on publicly available reports...This database is the source for the health expenditure tables in the World Health Statistics Report and the WHO Global Health Observatory." (source: website)