Administrative databases
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In brief
In brief
This review guides researchers in selecting appropriate administrative healthcare databases for pediatric surgical research. It examines the strengths and limitations of claims-based datasets, discussing how database characteristics—including patient populations, available data elements, and coverage—should align with specific research questions.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Publication date: Available online 25 October 2018
Source: Seminars in Pediatric Surgery
Author(s): Calista M. Harbaugh, Jennifer N. Cooper
Abstract
Administrative healthcare databases are created from records of service utilization and payments for payer or hospital billing purposes. Such databases contain large amounts of information on the diagnoses, procedures, resource utilization, and costs or charges of thousands or even millions of patients. However, the patient populations included and data elements available vary widely by database, resulting in different strengths, limitations, and potential uses for each. Therefore, selection of an administrative database should be guided by the research question of interest. This review discusses important considerations when selecting an administrative healthcare database to use to answer a research question and describes key characteristics of the administrative databases most frequently used for pediatric surgical research.