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Survey Results and Products

Web Tables

The annual NAMCS and NHAMCS-ED and NHAMCS-OPD summaries that have been published in the National Health Statistics Report series since 2006 and, prior to that, in the Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics series, have been discontinued. The last year for the annual summary publications was 2007. Highlights from each new year of NAMCS and NHAMCS data are now being featured in the shorter Data Brief series. However, the standard tables from the traditional summaries will continue to be produced in PDF format on the web. These are referred to as Summary Tables in the links below. Other tables are also available, some combining data across surveys or across years. Also shown are data from the National Electronic Health Records Survey (NEHRS), which started as a NAMCS supplement.

 

Publications using NAMCS/NHAMCS data

  • Downloadable NCHS Reports – Selected NCHS reports are listed here, which can be viewed or downloaded.
  • NAMCS/NHAMCS Publications List [PDF – 908 KB] – This contains a chronological listing of citations for NCHS reports, journal articles, and other publications using NAMCS and NHAMCS data. It is meant to be a reference document and does not provide links to all downloadable reports. Please report any mistakes or omissions to the Ambulatory and Hospital Care Statistics Branch.
  • Health, United States
  • National Healthcare Disparities Report
  • National Healthcare Quality Report
  • Statistical Abstract of the United States

 

Ambulatory Care Monthly News

 

Factsheets

The Ambulatory and Hospital Care Statistics Branch compiles a series of Factsheets for each physician specialty group sampled in NAMCS, as well as hospital emergency and outpatient departments sampled in NHAMCS. These Factsheets present data on ambulatory medical care visits provided at the sampled physicians’ offices and the sampled hospitals.

 

Special Topics

  • National estimates of non-pediatric office-based physician acceptance of new Medicare, Medicaid or privately insured patients [PDF – 79 KB]
    • NAMCS physician induction interview data for 2021 were used.
    • Accept new Medicare patients: 88.8% (confidence interval: 83.9 – 92.6%)
    • Accept new Medicaid patients: 77.0% (confidence interval: 71.5 – 82.0%)
    • Accept new privately insured patients: 87.6% (confidence interval: 82.7 – 91.5%)
    • Non-pediatric office-based physicians who accept new Medicare, Medicaid or private insured patients is defined as physicians who responded “yes” to accepting new patients and “yes” to accepting patients who have Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance as the source of payment. Information on acceptance of new patients was missing (blank, unknown, refused) for 1.0% of physicians. For those who responded, the level of missing data (unknown, refused) for payment source accepted for new patients ranged from 1.9—5.0% depending on the payment source. In all, 93.7% of non-pediatric office-based physicians reported that they accepted new patients.
  • National estimates of non-pediatric office-based physician acceptance of new Medicare, Medicaid or privately insured patients [PDF – 56 KB]
    • NAMCS physician induction interview data for 2020 were used.
    • Accept new Medicare patients: 86.4% (confidence interval: 81.9 – 90.1%)
    • Accept new Medicaid patients: 71.5% (confidence interval: 66.2 – 76.4%)
    • Accept new privately insured patients: 84.2% (confidence interval: 79.6 – 88.0%)
    • Non-pediatric office-based physicians who accept new Medicare, Medicaid or private insured patients is defined as physicians who responded “yes” to accepting new patients and “yes” to accepting patients who have Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance as the source of payment. Information on acceptance of new patients was missing (blank, unknown, refused) for 1.7% of physicians. For those who responded, the level of missing data (unknown, refused) for payment source accepted for new patients ranged from 3.5—8.1% depending on the payment source.
  • National estimates of ambulatory care visits among certain classes of immunosuppressed patients
    • NAMCS data for 2018 were used to estimate the number of visits to office-based physicians by immunosuppressed patients. Immunosuppression was defined as visits with any of the following characteristics: Any-listed reason for visit (up to 5 reported) of transplant (reason for visit codes 4565.0-4565.2); any-listed diagnosis code (up to 5 reported) of Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (ICD-10-CM, C91.1), Arthropathic psoriasis (L40.5), Rheumatoid arthritis with rheumatoid factor (M05), Other rheumatoid arthritis (M06), Enteropathic arthropathies (M07), or Postinfective and reactive arthropathies (M02); and any-listed drug mention (up to 30 reported) of Mycophenolate (drugid code d03839), Rituximab (drugid code d04255), or Methotrexate (drugid code d00060). The estimated number of visits to office-based physicians that met these criteria was 17,444,000 (2% of all office-based physician visits). We consider this estimate to be unreliable; its 95% confidence interval ranges from 6,900,000 to 27,987,000 visits. NHAMCS data were used to estimate the corresponding number of hospital emergency department (ED) visits. The estimated number of ED visits in 2018 that met these criteria was 348,000 (0.3% of all ED visits).
  • Estimated number of NAMCS-eligible physicians by specialty, age, sex, region, and practice characteristics: 2015 and 2016 [PDF – 190 KB]
  • Estimated number of visits during 2016-2017 by children under 18 years to hospital-based emergency departments for selected diagnoses:
    • Annual average of 32,922,000 ED visits by children under 18 years (confidence interval: 27,685,000 – 38,160,000 visits)
    • Traumatic fracture of the forearm:  annual average of 351,000 visits (confidence interval: 294,000 – 408,000 visits)
    • Traumatic fracture of wrist, hand or fingers: annual average of 322,000 visits (confidence Interval: 254,000 – 389,000 visits)
    • Traumatic fracture of shoulder: annual average of 253,000 visits (confidence Interval: 197,000 – 308,000 visits)
    • Traumatic fracture of leg, foot or toes: annual average of 185,000 visits (confidence interval: 146,000 – 223,000 visits)
    • Estimates for traumatic fracture of hip, ankle and “other fractures” (skull, facial bones, vertebrae, ribs, sternum, pelvis) were unreliable.
  • Estimated number and percent distribution of hospital emergency department visits at which opioids were prescribed at discharge, for selected diagnosis groups: United States, 2016 [PDF – 54 KB] Suggested Citation: Schappert, SM and Rui, P. Estimated number and percent distribution of hospital emergency department visits at which opioids were prescribed at discharge, for selected diagnosis groups: United States, 2016. National Center for Health Statistics. November, 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ahcd/new_ahcd.htm
  • Selected national physician estimates from the 2016 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey Supplement for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services:
    • Setting: 69.2%, of office-based physicians worked in a solo or group practice and 30.8% worked in a setting other than solo or group practice, including freestanding clinic or urgent care centers, community health centers, mental health centers, non-federal government clinics, family planning clinics, health maintenance organizations and faculty practice plans.
    • Metropolitan Statistical Area: 93.0% of office-based physicians practices were located in a Metropolitan Statistical Area.
    • Physician ethnicity: 87.9% of office-based physicians were not Hispanic, Latino/a or of Spanish origin. Estimates for blank responses and Hispanic, Latino/a or of Spanish origin are not reported because they do not meet NCHS standards of reliability.
    • Physician race: 68.2% of office-based physicians were White only. 17.6% of office-based physicians were Asian only. The Asian only category includes “Asian Indian,” “Chinese,” “Filipino,” “Japanese,” “Korean,” “Vietnamese,” and “Other Asian” racial groups. Estimates for blank responses and “Other races” are not reported because they do not meet NCHS standards of reliability. “Other races” included “Black or African American,” “American Indian or Alaska Native,” “Native Hawaiian,” “Guamanian or Chamorro,” “Samoan,” “Other Pacific Islander,” and when more than one racial group was selected.
  • National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2013-2014 and 2015-2016 National Summary Tables, by Type of Physician [PDF – 139 KB]
  • Estimated number of visits by children under 18 years to nonfederally employed, office-based physicians who answered yes to the question: “Is your practice certified as a patient-centered medical home?”:
    • 2013: 21,206,000 visits (confidence interval: 13,628,000 – 28,784,000 visits), or 14.0 percent of all office-based visits by this age group.
    • 2014: 21,779,000 visits (confidence interval: 15,153,000 – 28,405,000 visits), or 15.7 percent of all office-based visits by this age group.
    • 2015: 29,158,000 visits (confidence interval: 18,171,000 – 40,145,000 visits), or 19.5 percent of all office-based visits by this age group.
    • 2013-2015: Annual average of 24,048,000 visits (confidence interval: 19,081,000 – 29,015,000), or 16.4 percent of all office-based visits by this age group across 2013-2015.
  • Estimated number of visits to nonfederally employed, office-based physicians who answered yes to the question: “Is your practice certified as a patient-centered medical home?”:
    • 2013: 81,928,000 visits (confidence interval: 66,570,000 – 97,285,000 visits), or 8.9 percent of all office-based visits.
    • 2014: 99,866,000 visits (confidence interval: 82,470,000 – 117,262,000 visits), or 11.3 percent of all office-based visits.
    • 2015: 127,521,000 visits  (confidence interval: 93,036,000 – 162,005,000 visits), or 12.9 percent of all office-based visits.
    • 2013-2015:  Annual average of 103,105,000 visits (confidence interval: 89,250,000 – 116,960,000), or 11.1 percent of all office-based visits across 2013-2015.
  • In 2014, 25% of office-based physicians reported that their practices had the ability to perform x-rays on site.  (2014 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey Physician Induction Interview)
  • In 2014, 10% of office-based physicians reported that their practices were certified as a patient-centered medical home. (2014 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey Physician Induction Interview)
  • Percentage of Office-based Orthopedic Surgeons Using EHR/EMR in 2015:  93.2 percent of office-based orthopedic surgeons reported that they used any electronic health record/electronic medical record (EHR/EMR) system in 2015, according to data from the 2015 National Electronic Health Records Survey. Furthermore, 64.6 percent of office-based orthopedic surgeons stated that they used a basic EMR/EHR system, and 86.7 percent used a certified EMR/EHR system. For more information on the definitions of any, basic, and certified EHR/EMR systems, please see the National Electronic Health Records Survey: 2015 State and National Electronic Health Record Adoption Summary Tables [PDF – 285 KB].
    (Jamoom E, Yang N. Table of Electronic Health Record Adoption and Use among Office-based Physicians in the U.S., by State: 2015 National Electronic Health Records Survey. 2016.)
  • Physician Acceptance of New Patients in 2015:  93.7 percent of office-based physicians reported that they accepted new patients in 2015, according to data from the 2015 National Electronic Health Records Survey. Furthermore, 88.8 percent of office-based physicians stated that they accepted new patients with private insurance, 80.9 percent accepted those with Medicare, and 68.5 percent accepted those with Medicaid.