Source Files

The HCUP New Mexico inpatient files were constructed from hospital inpatient discharge files received from the New Mexico Health Policy Commission, New Mexico Department of Health.

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

General and specialty hospitals that are state licensed by New Mexico Department of Health are included. Federal hospitals and Indian Health Services facilities 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 New Mexico does not indicate whether stays in special units within the hospital (e.g., psychiatric, rehabilitation, long-term care) are included in the file.

Exclusion of Records During HCUP Data Processing

Records with a discharge disposition of "still a patient" and "admitted as an inpatient to this hospital" were excluded from the HCUP New Mexico SID.

During the creation of the 2011 Mew Mexico SID, outpatient records were found within a single hospital which were identified by a length of stay of 0 days and were excluded. This approach also eliminated any inpatient discharges with same day stays for this hospital. Any analysis using the 2011 New Mexico SID should be aware that one hospital is missing information on same day stays.