Source Files

The HCUP North Carolina inpatient files were constructed from hospital discharge files received from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Types of Facilities Included in the Files Provided to HCUP by the Partner

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services collects inpatient data from acute care licensed hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, psychiatric facilities and substance abuse facilities in North Carolina. Four state psychiatric hospitals are not included.

A comparison of the number of hospitals included in the SID and the number of hospitals reported in the AHA Annual Survey is available starting in data year 2010.

Hospitals do not always report data for a full calendar year. Some hospitals open or close during the year; other hospitals have technical problems that prevent them from reporting data for all months in a year.

Inclusion of Stays in Special Units

The documentation supplied by North Carolina does not indicate whether information on stays in special units (e.g., psychiatric, rehabilitation, long-term care) within the hospital are included in the data.

Exclusion of Records During HCUP Data Processing

Records with a discharge disposition of "still a patient" were excluded from the HCUP North Carolina inpatient data.