MEPS-HC Survey Instrument

OMB #: 0935-0108

What is the Medical Expenditure
Panel Survey?
The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is a
nationwide study conducted to learn more about
the health care services people use, the charges for those
services and the sources that pay for them. MEPS is
conducted annually by the U.S. Public Health Service
through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Major components of MEPS include surveys of:
„
A nationally representative sample of households;
„
Hospitals, physicians, and pharmacies reported
by the household participants; and
„
Providers of health insurance.
MEPS is the most complete source of data available
on health care use and expenses in the United States.
How are hospitals chosen for the MEPS
Hospital Component?
Hospitals and/or facilities associated with a hospital were
named by respondents in the household data collection
as sources of health care during 2005. These household
respondents signed HIPAA-compliant forms authorizing
and requesting each of their hospitals to release the
information sought by the study.
Why should this hospital participate?
Hospital expenditures are a major component of health
care costs. The information that you supply will supplement that given by your patient and help us build a more
complete picture of health care expenditures for respondents in our study. Your patients have asked specifically
for your help by signing the authorization form.
What information is needed
from hospitals?
For each of the patients on the enclosed list, we need
information about their 2005 hospital events. For each
date of service, we need:
„
Date of service
„
Diagnoses (ICD-9 or DSM-4 codes)
„
Services provided (CPT-4, DRG, or other relevant codes)
„
Full established charge
„
Method of reimbursement (fee-for-service or capitated)
„
Payment sources/amounts
„
Information on the practitioners who provided service
to the patient in the hospital but billed separately.

How do I know the information will
be kept confidential?
All data is kept in strict confidence. The confidentiality of data collected for MEPS is protected by
Federal law under Sections 924(c) and 308(d) of
the Public Health Service Act [42 U.S.C. 299c-3(c)
and 242m(d)]. Identifying information collected
for the study cannot be released without the
permission of the individuals or establishments
who provided the information.
Personal identifying information such as names
or addresses are removed before information
from the study is made available to researchers.
Findings are published in statistical summaries
and tables and micro-data is released on “public
use” data files.
Who is collecting this data?
The U.S. Public Health Service has chosen Westat,
a national research company, to administer the
study. A professionally trained data collection
specialist from Westat will contact each hospital .
What questions will the data
collected answer?
MEPS data provide answers to many important
questions. For example:
„
How much of hospital costs are covered
by insurance?
„
What do people pay out of pocket for their
hospital care?
„
What conditions are being treated in hospitals?
„
What types of health care services are people
receiving from hospitals?

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Any further questions?
Please call toll-free, at
1-800-792-3656.
For direct access to information
about MEPS, go to
http://www.meps.ahrq.gov.