Statement of Intended Use of HCUP State Databases and Description of Project Activities

Statement of Intended Use of HCUP State Databases and Description of Project Activities

A Statement of Intended Use is required if you are requesting SID, SASD, and/or SEDD files from the HCUP Central Distributor. This Statement of Intended Use is reviewed by AHRQ on behalf of the Data Organizations that make their data available through the HCUP Central Distributor (“HCUP Partners”).

The Statement of Intended Use should be a brief narrative including enough information for reviewers to assess compliance with the HCUP Data Use Agreement (DUA) for State Databases and must include:

1. A description of the subject area and/or specific project

2. The goals and objectives of the project

3. The intended audience and anticipated final product(s)

4. Any specific reason for requesting the HCUP databases

5. Specific information describing how the applicant intends to adhere to the HCUP DUA

The DUA provides complete descriptions of the acceptable uses of the HCUP SID, SASD, and SEDD. Files from these databases are available for the purposes of research and aggregate statistical

reporting. The DUA specifies:

• No Identification of Persons. Attempts to identify individuals are strictly prohibited. This includes attempts to identify individuals through the use of vulnerability analysis or penetration testing. Release of information where the number of observations (i.e., individual discharge records) in any given cell of tabulated data is ≤10 is prohibited.

• No Identification of Establishments. Information that could advertently or inadvertently identify establishments directly or by inference may not be released in disseminated or shared materials.

• No Prohibited Uses of the Data. The use of HCUP data for commercial or competitive purposes, criminal and civil litigation (including expert testimony or law enforcement) is prohibited. In addition, the redistribution of HCUP data by posting on any website or publishing in any other publicly accessible online repository is prohibited.

Tips for preparing your Statement of Intended Use:

The abstract does not need to be long, but should contain sufficient details so that the reviewer has a fundamental understanding of how the HCUP data will be used and reported. Well-written abstracts are usually about 250 words. Short, terse descriptions often raise questions. This abstract is similar to one that would be submitted for possible presentation at an academic conference where the data analysis has not been completed.

Project Description:

The following features must be included in the project description of all Statements of Intended Use:

• What are the project goals and objectives?

• What are the levels of aggregated statistics being investigated (e.g., geographic, hospital, condition-specific)?

• Who are the main audiences (e.g., academic, clients)? If “clients”, who are your clients?

• How will the audience use this information?

Intended Use:

The Statement of Intended Use must also include information about the expected end products (e.g., client reports, tables, peer-review manuscripts).

Compliance with the HCUP DUA for State Databases:

Your SIU must also include detail about how the project will be compliant with the HCUP DUA for State Databases and cite methods to prevent identification of individuals and establishments and ensure the proper use of the data. These could include:

• Suppressing cell sizes where the number of observations is less than or equal to 10

• Explicitly noting that individual institutions will not be directly or indirectly identifiable.

• Aggregating geographic areas to avoid identifying establishments (each geographic area must have a minimum of 2 establishments)

Notes:

1. Exploratory use is permissible, but should be clearly stated in the Statement of Intended Use submitted with your order. Further, as concrete projects emerge from approved exploratory work, the data custodian must submit a “Re-use Request” to the HCUP Central Distributor for review and approval by AHRQ before work may begin on any new, specific project.

2. Even if you are purchasing additional data for a previously approved project, you must provide the complete project description for each individual purchase. Failure to do so will delay the review of the new application(s). If you have the order number(s) for the related purchases available, please also include them.

3. The AHRQ reviewers will put your application on hold and request additional clarification from you if you do not provide all of the information requested.