This section provides State-specific information on the original data files provided by the HCUP Partner organizations for the development of the HCUP outpatient databases. Information includes how the ambulatory surgery and services data are collected by the HCUP Partner organizations and how these data are handled during the creation of the HCUP SASD:

• Types of ambulatory surgery and other outpatient services collected by the Partner
• Outpatient data file provided to HCUP by the Partner
• Selection of records for inclusion in the SASD
• Types of facilities included in the files provided to HCUP by the Partner
• Identifying hospital-owned ambulatory surgery and other types of outpatient facilities in the SASD.

Overview of the SASD

The HCUP State Ambulatory Surgery and Services Databases (SASD) include encounter-level data for ambulatory surgeries and may also include various types of outpatient services such as observation stays, lithotripsy, radiation therapy, imaging, chemotherapy, and labor and delivery. The specific types of ambulatory surgery and outpatient services included in each SASD vary by State and data year. All SASD include data from hospital-owned ambulatory surgery facilities. In addition, some States include data from facilities not owned by a hospital. The designation of a facility as hospital-owned is specific to its financial relationship with a hospital that provides inpatient care and is not related to its physical location. Hospital-owned ambulatory surgery and other outpatient care facilities may be contained within the hospital, physically attached to the hospital, or located in a different geographic area. The designation as hospital-owned means that HCUP can identify that the hospital is billing for this service.

Selection of Records for Inclusion in the SASD

Some HCUP Partners provide ambulatory surgery (AS) and other outpatient services data to HCUP in a separate file. Others, however, provide a single outpatient file that includes AS, other outpatient services, and emergency department (ED) data. HCUP uses State-defined indicators of AS and ED records for inclusion in the SASD and State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD). Records identified by the State as AS are included in the SASD. Records identified by the State as ED are included in the SEDD. Additionally, some States provide indicators of observation services (OS). If available, records with OS in combination with ED services would be included in the SEDD; OS records without ED services would be included in the SASD. Three HCUP data elements (STATE_AS for AS records, STATE_ED for ED records, and STATE_OS for observation services (OS) records) include information on the State-defined record type. They are set to a value of 1 if the State identifies the record as AS, ED, or OS respectively.

The selection of outpatient records for inclusion on the SASD has varied across data years:

• Beginning with the 2004 SASD, all records marked by the Partner as ambulatory surgery are included in the SASD. In addition, if there are any outpatient records not identified as ambulatory surgery or emergency department, then these additional outpatient records are included in the SASD. A record in the SASD that also had evidence of ED services based on the HCUP criteria (HCUP data element HCUP_ED greater than 0) is included in the both the SASD and SEDD.
• For the 2003 SASD (version 2), the data are handled as specified above for 2004 forward.
• For the 2003 SASD (version 1), HCUP applied uniform criteria based on information available on the HCUP file for the selection of AS records for the SASD and ED records for the SEDD.
  • The SASD included records with a length of stay of 0-1 day with at least one ICD-9-CM procedure codes in the range 00.50-86.99 or 88.40-88.59 or one CPT procedure code in the range 10040-69999, 70496, 70498, 70544-70549, 71275, 71555, 72159, 72191, 72198, 73206, 73225, 73580, 73706, 73725, 74175, 74185, 75600-75790, 75893-75898, 75952-75954, 75992-75996, 78445, 92287, 92975, 92992-92993, 93501-93581.
  • The SEDD included records with a revenue center code in the range 450-459, indicating ED charges; or a CPT procedure code in the range 99281-99285, indicating an ED visit; or a positive emergency room charge, if revenue center codes are not available.
  • Any records that fit neither the criteria for the SASD or SEDD were placed in the State Unused Files (STUF). It became apparent in evaluating the records excluded from the SASD and SEDD that in some cases the HCUP Partners had more information available to them and, therefore, were better able to identify AS and ED records.
• Prior to data year 2003, HCUP Partners were asked to provide HCUP with separate ambulatory surgery (AS) and emergency department (ED) source files, if possible, and a combined outpatient file with records flagged by type, as an alternative. Records identified as ED were included in the SEDD, while all other records were included in the SASD. Investigation of the SASD revealed that the AS records were not uniformly defined and that other types of outpatient records were included.

Select the State below for specific information. For a description of the file composition for one or multiple States, check the corresponding boxes below and then click the "View File Composition" button.