MEDPAR Limited Data Set (LDS) - Hospital (National)

Data Alert: CMS is aware of an issue in the ‘MEDPAR NCH Claim Type Code' field in MedPAR, beginning in the January 2011 update.  The issue results in the assigning of claim type code ‘61’ where ‘62’ or ’64’ may be more appropriate.

CMS is working with technical staff in order to correct the logic and expects that future releases of the MedPAR will incorporate the updated logic.

ALERT:  CMS systems have been transitioning to a format that accommodates ICD-10 codes as well as 'E' codes, both in greater occurrences.  In the process of creating the December 2010 update of the FY2010 MedPAR, claims were converted to the new format and then reconverted to the older format. In that conversion process, POA codes associated with additional E codes carried on the newer format populated the 10^th position of the POA string in some records.  For research purposes, values in the 10^th position of the POA string should be disregarded.

The MEDPAR LDS is identical to the Expanded Modified MEDPAR.

The Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR) file contains records for 100% of Medicare beneficiaries who use hospital inpatient services. The records are stripped of most data elements that will permit identification of beneficiaries. The six positions Medicare billing number identifies the hospital. The file is available to persons qualifying under the terms of the Routine Use Act as outlined in the December 24, 1984, "Federal Register" and amended by the July 2, 1985, Notice. The national file consists of approximately 15 million records.

NOTE:  CMS will release the Expanded Modified MEDPAR based on the IPPS proposed rule on the date of the rule publication.   The fiscal year of the proposed rule Expanded Modified MEDPAR will use the December update of the MEDPAR from the second preceding fiscal year (i.e., the FY 2010 proposed rule uses the December update to the FY 2008 MedPAR)

1. The Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) is published in the "Federal Register", usually available in April. This file is derived from the MEDPAR file with a cutoff of three months after the end of the fiscal year (December file).
2. The Final Rule is published in the Federal Register usually by the first week of August. This file is derived from the MEDPAR file with a cutoff of six months after the end of the fiscal year (March file).

Media: DVD  

File Cost: $3,655.00 per year  

Data Format:  Comma separated variable block (CSV) with SAS® read-in program

Available:  FY 1997 through FY 2011

Note: Regarding the 1999 File – The file contains corrupted data in data element "Admission of Date of Death Interval" positions 528-532. Corruption occurred during the Y2K conversion of legacy data files. At present, there are no plans to correct the data.

To browse the record layout and copylibs, see the Downloads section below.

Instructions on How to Request LDS Data Files in the Related Links Inside CMS section below.