Data Resources for Conducting Health Services and Policy Research

• Published in: Annual review of public health 2018-04, Vol.39 (1), p.437-452
• Main Authors: Blewett, Lynn A, Call, Kathleen Thiede, Turner, Joanna, Hest, Robert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: data; Data Collection - methods; Government Agencies - statistics & numerical data; Health Behavior; Health Expenditures - statistics & numerical data; Health Services; health services research; Health Services Research - methods; household survey data; Humans; Insurance Coverage - statistics & numerical data; Insurance, Health - statistics & numerical data; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data; public health surveillance; Research Design; United States
• ISSN: 0163-7525; 1545-2093
• DOI: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040617-013544

Rich federal data resources provide essential data inputs for monitoring the health and health care of the US population and are essential for conducting health services policy research. The six household surveys we document in this article cover a broad array of health topics, including health insurance coverage (American Community Survey, Current Population Survey), health conditions and behaviors (National Health Interview Survey, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System), health care utilization and spending (Medical Expenditure Panel Survey), and longitudinal data on public program participation (SIPP). New federal activities are linking federal surveys with administrative data to reduce duplication and response burden. In the private sector, vendors are aggregating data from medical records and claims to enhance our understanding of treatment, quality, and outcomes of medical care. Federal agencies must continue to innovate to meet the continuous challenges of scarce resources, pressures for more granular data, and new multimode data collection methodologies.