National Hospital Care Survey

How can your hospital participate in NHCS?

Welcome to NHCS!

Have you been selected to participate in the National Hospital Care Survey? You have a great opportunity to take part in an important national health care utilization survey. You can find more information below in the navigation bar to the left. NHCS participation is voluntary. We look forward to partnering with your hospital on this important public health study!

Steps to Participate in NHCS

We are asking all participating hospitals to:

  1. Participate in a one-time screening interview to determine the eligibility of your hospital and its emergency department (ED).
  2. Complete an Annual Hospital Interview on hospital characteristics, including total admissions, total births, total number of beds, and total ED visits.
  3. Submit electronic health records (EHR) or Uniform Bill (UB)-04 administrative claims data for all inpatient discharges and ED visits for each calendar year. We will also accept an electronic file in the same format submitted to the state.

Ready to submit your electronic data?

Participating hospitals send UB-04 administrative claims data via the Westat Secure Transfer System (WSTS). See below for detailed instructions on how to use the WSTS:

If you are interested in submitting EHR data, we will be in touch with you to set up procedures for the secure transfer of these files. Hospitals with an Epic or Cerner EHR system may use their vendor’s products to participate in NHCS. For more information, please contact Geoff Jackson, Team Leader, Hospital Care Team.

Additional information about NHCS can be found on our Frequently Asked Questions webpage.

Page last reviewed: March 23, 2020