National Health Care Survey

The National Health Care Survey (NHCS) is run as part of the activities of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) which is is one of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

The survey embraces a family of health care provider surveys, obtaining information about facilities that supply health care, the services rendered, and the characteristics of the patients served.

This family of surveys includes the following components:

National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS)

National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS)

National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery (NSAS)

National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS)

National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS)

National Home and Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS)

National Employer Health Insurance Survey (NEHIS)

National Health Provider Inventory (NHPI)

Each survey is based on a multistage sampling design and collects data directly from health care providers rather than from patients so providing the most accurate and detailed data on diagnosis and treatment, as well as on the characteristics of the institutions.

The data are used by policymakers, planners, researchers, and others in the health community to monitor changes in the use of health care resources, to monitor specific diseases, and to examine the impact of new medical technologies etc.