Lab 2.2 – HCUPnet Exercises

Lab 2.2 – HCUPnet Exercises

Use HCUPnet (https://hcupnet.ahrq.gov) to answer the following questions:

1. Use the KID database to find out what proportion of discharges 2009 with a principal diagnosis of asthma is covered under Medicaid?
   1. Should you use ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes, Clinical Classification Software (CCS) category or DRG to identify asthma? Hint: How many ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes are needed to select all asthma discharges? Is there an asthma-specific DRG? What is the CCS?
   2. Why?
   3. Proportion:
2. Use the NIS database to determine the most common discharge destination for Medicare patients undergoing a hip replacement (DRG 470) in 2011.
   1. Is there a different pattern of discharge destination for uninsured patients?
   2. Why?
3. What is the top DRG for patients that are dually eligible (Medicare and Medicaid) in Texas for 2011?
   1. Is the same for all payers?
   2. What do you notice about the top 10 DRGs for dually eligible patients vs. the top 10 for all patients?

[Hint:  If you ask for the Top 10 DRGs by number of discharges for dually eligible patients, the system will return a table for all payers and one for dually eligible.]

4. Use the KID database to determine the trend in discharges for asthma. Include the proportion admitted through the ED.
   1. What is the trend in the number of discharges?
   2. What is the trend in the proportion admitted through the ED?

[Hint: Select the ‘percent admitted from the emergency department’ and ‘number of discharges’ after selecting the CCS for asthma.]

5. Use the NIS database to compare the median cost and length of stay for patients discharged from teaching hospitals to that of patients admitted to nonteaching hospitals for 2012.
   1. Are they different?
   2. Why or why not?

[Hint: Be sure to select the number of discharges, length of stay (median) and hospital charges (median) when on screen used for selecting variables to be displayed.]