HCUP contains patient-level clinical and resource use information included in a typical discharge abstract and can be linked to data from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey and the Area Resource File. These data are useful for analyses that can be conducted only with a complete census of hospitals and their discharges, such as studies of access to care, small-area variations, and hospital market areas. The data also may be used for comparative analyses of states. Participating data organizations control access to SID data for their respective states. Access to the NIS is open to all researchers who sign data use agreements.
Uses are limited to research and aggregate statistical reporting.
Because of its size this database supports analyses of rare and common conditions and procedures, yet it can be run on desktop computers. The Windows version of the Reader is distributed with the product. The project is ongoing. Local and national advisory groups have been established to facilitate communication with the HIV community and the research consortium. No racial or ethnic groups have been excluded from the sample.