Types of Ambulatory Surgery and Other Outpatient Services Collected by the Partner

The Maine Health Data Organization (MHDO) collects data on ambulatory surgery and other outpatient services. The services include ambulatory surgery, observation services, outpatient clinic services, imaging, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and chemotherapy visits. Information on recurring visits, which include several visits for the same type of scheduled procedure or treatment, may be bundled into one record. MHDO does not have specific criteria for defining each type of outpatient service.

Outpatient Data File Provided to HCUP by the Partner

MHDO provides their complete outpatient file to HCUP. MHDO does not include an indicator on the source data for the type of outpatient service. MHDO does include an indicator for emergency department services, however, which is based on the presence of a revenue center code of 0450-0459.

Selection of Records for Inclusion in the SASD

All records identified by MHDO as ED are included in the SEDD (HCUP data element STATE_ED=1 based on ED flag). All records where STATE_ED=0 are included in the SASD. STATE_AS is not set given that the Partner did not provide an equivalent AS flag on the outpatient file.

Types of Facilities Included in the Files Provided to HCUP by the Partner

MHDO has a mandate for data collection on ambulatory surgery and other outpatient services performed in hospital-owned facilities. MHDO does not collect data from ambulatory surgery facilities that are not owned by a hospital.

Identification of Hospital-Owned Ambulatory Surgery and Other Types of Outpatient Facilities in the SASD

The designation of a facility as hospital-owned is specific to its financial relationship with a hospital that provides inpatient care and not related to its physical location. Hospital-owned ambulatory surgery and other outpatient care facilities may be contained within the hospital, physically attached to the hospital, or located in a different geographic area. The designation as hospital-owned means that HCUP can identify that the hospital is billing for this service.

Starting in data year 2018, the HCUP data element HOSPITAL_OWNED can be used to identify hospital-owned facilities with ambulatory surgery and possibly other outpatient care data in the SASD. A facility is considered hospital-owned (HOSPITAL_OWNED = 1) if any one of the following is true:

• The facility is listed in the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey Database^TM.
• The facility is not listed in the AHA database, but the facility provides inpatient discharge data to HCUP.
• Documentation provided by the data source clearly indicates that the facility is hospital-owned.

If the facility in the SASD does not meet any of the above criteria, it is marked as not being owned by a hospital (HOSPITAL_OWNED = 0). Not all hospitals report to the AHA, so there is a possibility that some facilities marked with HOSPITAL_OWNED=0 are hospital-owned.

From data year 1998-2018, the HCUP data element was called FREESTANDING. A facility is considered hospital-owned (FREESTANDING = 0) if any one of the following is true:

• The facility is listed in the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey Database^TM.
• The facility is not listed in the AHA database, but the facility provides inpatient discharge data to HCUP.
• Documentation provided by the data source clearly indicates that the facility is hospital-owned.

If the facility in the SASD does not meet any of the above criteria, it is marked as not being owned by a hospital (FREESTANDING = 1). Not all hospitals report to the AHA, so there is a possibility that some facilities marked with FREESTANDING=1 are hospital-owned.

Exclusion of Records During HCUP Processing

Beginning with 2016 data, records with a discharge disposition of "still a patient" are retained in the HCUP SASD. Prior to 2016 data, these records were excluded.

Beginning in 2010, records with a designation of "admitted as an inpatient" are retained in the SASD, even though this rarely occurs. Prior to 2010, records with a designation of "admitted as an inpatient" were excluded from the files.