The 2015 National Inpatient Sample (NIS) is planned for release this fall. The NIS is the largest inpatient care database in the United States. It contains charge information on all patients, regardless of payer, including individuals covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance, and those who are uninsured. The NIS is a powerful database that contains data from approximately 7 million hospital stays in 47 States and the District of Columbia. NIS data can be weighted to produce national estimates, allowing researchers and policymakers to identify, track, and analyze national trends in health care utilization, access, charges, quality, and outcomes. Its vast size enables analyses of infrequent conditions, uncommon treatments, and special patient populations. The 2015 NIS will be available for purchase through the HCUP Central Distributor.
The 2015 Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD) is planned for release this fall. The NRD is a unique and powerful database designed to support analyses of national readmission rates for all payers and the uninsured. This database addresses a large gap in health care data—the lack of nationally representative information on hospital readmissions for all ages. Unweighted, the NRD contains data from approximately 15 million discharges each year. Weighted, it estimates roughly 35 million discharges. The NRD is drawn from the State Inpatient Databases (SID) with reliable, verified patient linkage numbers that could be used to track patients across hospitals within a State while adhering to strict privacy guidelines. The 2015 NRD will be available for purchase through the HCUP Central Distributor.