HEALTHCARE COST & UTILIZATION PROJECT

User Support

Do Your own analysis
Explore Expert Research & Limited Datasets

NEDS Description of Data Elements

 
HOSP_URCAT4 - Hospital urban-rural designation
 
Documentation Sections:
General Notes
Uniform Values
State Specific Notes
General Notes
 

HOSP_URCAT4 indicates the urban-rural designation of the hospital and is based on the county of the hospital, as identified by the American Hospital Association. The four-level categorization is a simplified adaptation of the Urban Influence Codes (UIC). The 12 categories of the UIC are combined into four broader categories that differentiate between large and small metropolitan, micropolitan, and a non-urban residual. Starting in the 2014 data, the categorization is based on the 2013 version of the UIC. Prior to 2014, the categorization is based on the 2003 version of the UIC.

 
Top
 
Uniform Values
VariableDescriptionValueValue Description
HOSP_URCAT4Hospital urban-rural designation1Large metropolitan areas with at least 1 million residents
2Small metropolitan areas with less than 1 million residents
3Micropolitan areas
4Not metropolitan or micropolitan (non-urban residual)
6Collapsed category for any urban-rural location (only applicable to the NEDS, beginning in 2014)
7Collapsed category of small metropolitan and micropolitan, (only applicable to the NEDS, beginning in 2011)
8Metropolitan, collapsed category of large and small metropolitan
9Non-metropolitan, collapsed category of micropolitan and non-urban
 
Top
 
 
State Specific Notes
None
 
Top
 
 

Internet Citation: HCUP NEDS Description of Data Elements. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). May 2015. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/db/vars/hosp_urcat4/nedsnote.jsp.
Are you having problems viewing or printing pages on this website?
If you have comments, suggestions, and/or questions, please contact hcup@ahrq.gov.
Privacy Notice, Viewers & Players
Last modified 5/8/15