Source Files

The Hawaii Health Information Corporation (HHIC) provides emergency department (ED) records to HCUP in one file. The ED file contains all acuity range cases performed in the emergency room except those that also received observation services (OS).

Starting in 2007, HHIC also provides ambulatory surgery (AS) records to HCUP in a separate file. Since the ED and the AS files are very similar, these files are concatenated together before processing.

Selection of Records for Inclusion in the SEDD

All records identified by HHIC as ED (i.e., included in the separate ED data file provided to HCUP) are included in the SEDD (HCUP data element STATE_ED=1).

Additionally, any other records with evidence of ED services that are flagged by the variable HCUP_ED (i.e., HCUP_ED>0) during HCUP processing are included in the SEDD. If a record in the SASD also has evidence of ED services based on the HCUP criteria (HCUP data element HCUP_ED not equal to 0), then the SASD record is also included in the SEDD. These records will have the same value for the HCUP data element KEY.

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

HHIC collects ED data from member hospital-owned EDs in the State.

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

Hospital-owned EDs do not always report data for a full calendar year. Some open or close during the year; others have technical problems that prevent them from reporting data for all months in a year.

Exclusion of Records During HCUP Data Processing During HCUP Data Processing

Beginning with 2016 data, records with a discharge disposition of "still a patient" are retained in the HCUP SEDD. Prior to 2016 data, these records were excluded. Additionally, prior to 2010, records with a discharge disposition of "admitted as an inpatient" were also excluded from the HCUP Hawaii SEDD.

Additional SEDD Notes

Patients coming into the ED can also have OS care prior to being discharged. HCUP expects these records to be included in the SEDD, however, ED-OS combination records are not provided to HCUP on Hawaii's ED data file. ED-OS records account for roughly 3-6 percent of SEDD records in 2012.