National ambulatory medical care survey, 1989. The 1989 survey contains information from 38,384 patient visits to 1,421 physicians. Data are available on the patient's reason for the visit, the physician's diagnosis, and the kinds of diagnostic and therapeutic services rendered.
Information is included on the physician's specialization and geographic location.
Demographic information on patients, such as age, sex, race, and ethnicity, was also collected. Office visits made within the United States by patients of nonfederally employed physicians who were primarily involved in office-based patient care activities, but not engaged in the specialties of radiology, pathology, or anesthesiology. Primary sampling units were selected in the first stage, physician practices within PSUs in the second stage, and patient visits to selected physicians in the third stage. NCHS further requires that analysts not use the data to learn the identity of any persons or establishments and that the director of NCHS be notified if any identities are inadvertently discovered.