Data Resources and Tools
Contact us about databases available via CHSOR and its collaborators for health services and outcomes research. Read about PRO tools here.
Stay updated about data and other resources that might be appropriate for HS&OR related to COVID-19
National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS)
NHATS is a longitudinal, nationally-representative study of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older. The survey focuses on health and functioning and collects data on the physical, social, technological and service environment, physical and cognitive capacity, use of assistive devices and rehabilitation, help received with daily activities, and wellbeing. It also includes information on quality of end of life care, as well as the role of family caregivers. It began in 2011 and currently has five rounds of longitudinal data publicly available to analyze. It also has the capacity to be linked with Medicare claims data. For more information, please email nhatsdata@westat.com.
Most recently, NHATS is conducting a mail follow-back for its participants to ascertain COVID-19 symptoms, social distancing behaviors, and changes compared to before the outbreak in living arrangements, contact with family and friends, activities, health care, finances, wellbeing and care. NHATS has also added an open-ended question to its telephone interview on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected participants’ lives.
Marketscan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database
The MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database (Commercial Database) consists of medical and drug data from employers and health plans. It contains data for several million individuals annually, encompassing employees, their spouses, and dependents who are covered by employer-sponsored private health insurance. Healthcare for these individuals is provided under a variety of fee-for-service (FFS), fully capitated, and partially capitated health plans. These include PPOs and exclusive provider organizations (EPOs), POS plans, indemnity plans, HMOs, and consumer-directed health plans. Medical claims are linked to outpatient prescription drug claims and person-level enrollment information. These data are managed by the staff of the Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness and can be contacted at cdse@jhsph.edu.
Annual Hospital Survey Database
Several faculty members have extensive experience working with the American Hospital Association's Annual Hospital Survey Database. Johns Hopkins University’s Welch Library provides access to the Survey Database. The database encompasses topics including: Organizational structure; Facilities and services; Beds and utilization; Staffing; Expenses; Physician arrangements; System affiliation; Geographic indicators; Accreditations and approval codes by credentialing organizations. Access to these data can be initiated here: https://databases.library.jhu.edu/databases/database/JHU04715. For more information on collaborating with CHSOR faculty to use the Survey, please contact Jill Marsteller at jmarste2@jhu.edu and Yea-Jen Hsu yhsu9@jhu.edu.
Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS)
The MCBS is a nationally-representative, panel survey of Medicare beneficiaries that collects information on health status, access to care, satisfaction with care, utilization, and cost through a survey linked to Medicare claims data. These files are now being made available as a publicly use file (certain parts of the access and satisfaction file not linked to the cost and utilization data), and the full limited data set that contains all the survey questions and claims data. Currently the 2013 data files are available from CMS. For more information, please contact Amber Willink at awillin2@jhu.edu.