NHAMCS Research Tools

At a glance

  • Find resources to help researchers analyze recent data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS).
  • Access additional tools to support analysis of older NHAMCS data in the CDC Archive.
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Drug Database

The Ambulatory Care Drug Database is a query system researchers can use to search for drugs mentioned in National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) data.

Users can search by a drug's—

  • Name
  • Generic name
  • Ingredients
  • Characteristics

Available drug characteristics include—

  • Therapeutic class
  • Composition status
  • Prescription status
  • Control status

Researchers can also use the database to identify drug codes that can help with the analysis of NHAMCS drug data. The database includes estimates and rates for drugs that were reported at emergency department visits in the 2022 NHAMCS.

Consumer information about specific drugs is available from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists' searchable drug database. That system provides information about specific drugs, including their prescription uses, their side effects, and special precautions that must be taken when using them.

Diagnosis Master Category List

The Diagnosis Master Category List (DMCL) is used to classify diagnosis codes into clinically meaningful categories. The codes can be used to analyze data across inpatient and ambulatory settings. The DMCL classification scheme is based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM). NHAMCS summary web tables have used the DMCL classification since 2016 NHAMCS.

Resources

Tools and information linked in this section can assist with analyzing older NHAMCS datasets. These resources are available from the CDC Archive.

NCHS Reliability Standards for Estimates‎

Data Presentation Standards for Rates and Counts
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Content Source:
National Center for Health Statistics