Introduction to Major US Healthcare Datasets

Catalog description

This course provides doctoral students with a comprehensive introduction to secondary data sources critical for contemporary health services research in the United States. Students will explore the major federal, state, and selected commercial healthcare datasets including those administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CDC, and the State of California. Emphasis is placed on understanding data structure, content, collection methodologies, population coverage, data access protocols, privacy/ethical considerations, and the analytic advantages and limitations unique to each dataset. Students will learn to navigate open data portals, evaluate the appropriateness of different datasets for applied research, and address challenges related to data linkage, representativeness, and bias. The course is designed to build students’ capacity to use large-scale healthcare data in preparation for dissertation work and leadership in data-informed healthcare administration.