The 2015 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) is now available. The NEDS is the largest all-payer emergency department database in the United States and contains information about geographic, hospital, patient, and visit characteristics. Unweighted, it contains data from approximately 31 million emergency department (ED) visits each year. Weighted, it estimates roughly 143 million ED visits.
Because of the transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS on October 1, 2015, the file structure and the location of many of the data elements within the files that constitute the 2015 NEDS have changed. Users are encouraged to review the ICD-10-CM/PCS Resources Page prior to analyzing outcomes affected by this change in the ICD coding scheme.
The NEDS enables analyses of ED utilization patterns and yields information that supports public health professionals, administrators, policymakers, and clinicians as they make decisions regarding this critical source of care.
The 2015 NEDS is available for purchase through the HCUP Central Distributor at https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/tech_assist/centdist.jsp