Att E - FASC Introductory Letter

Attachment E: Intro Letter to Freestanding Ambulatory Surgery Centers

Date

Dear XXXXXX,

I am writing to request your participation in the National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS), conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics. The National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) is a new survey that will combine two long standing valuable data collection efforts, the National Hospital Discharge Survey and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), and will collect data from both hospital-based and freestanding ambulatory surgery centers. The national estimates produced from this survey effort will allow policy-makers and researchers to monitor changes in the health care system, including the use of ambulatory surgery, and plan for more efficient delivery of services.  

Your surgery center was selected from a sample of freestanding ambulatory surgery centers across the United States. First, we will conduct an interview to collect descriptive data on your center’s characteristics. Our staff will then abstract data from medical records on a sample of patient visits. Patient identifiers will be collected so that data can be linked to birth and death records and potentially linked to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Many organizations, including those providing the enclosed letters of endorsement, have expressed their support and join me in urging your participation in this meaningful study. CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the data collected for this study.

• All information collected will be held confidential according to Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42, U.S. Code, 242m(d)) and the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (Title 5 of PL 107-347) and will be used for statistical purposes only. Provisions of the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act provide for a felony conviction and/or fine up to $250,000 if this promise is violated.

Additionally, the Privacy Rule as mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) allows your center to participate in several ways.

• Disclosure of patient data is permitted for public health purposes.

• NHCS has been approved by the CDC/National Center for Health Statistics’ Research Ethics Review Board.

The Data Collector assigned to your center from Westat, acting as our agent, will be contacting you soon about your center’s voluntary participation in the study. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Kathy Chimes, the Westat Project Director (phone: (301) 251-4302, e-mail: [email protected]) or Dr. Carol DeFrances, Team Leader, National Hospital Care Survey (phone: (301) 458-4440, e-mail: [email protected]).

Sincerely,

Carol DeFrances, Ph. D.

Team Leader, National Hospital Care Survey