American Hospital Association Annual Survey Database
The Library is pleased to offer a new source of health care data, the American Hospital Association Annual Survey Database 2009 on CD-ROM, to the Boston College Community. The American Hospital Association (AHA) is a national organization that represents hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 40,000 individual members.
The AHA Survey Database contains comprehensive hospital data from 6,500 hospitals across the nation. The scope of the coverage includes: demographics; organizational structure; facilities and services; utilization data; community orientation indicators; physician arrangements; managed care relationships and expenses.
For the Connell School of Nursing this data is invaluable in studies of nurse staffing, assurance of equitable health services to the community, utilization of health facilities on state and national levels, in the planning of healthcare programs, and in many other areas.
The wealth of data will also be of use to many subject areas besides the health care fields. Social work, sociology, and education can use the data to explore how health care affects people in the community and in the quality of their lives. Psychologists may want to know what services are available in psychiatric care units, both on an inpatient and outpatient basis. Economics and business researchers can use the data to track health care trends and inform health care policy proposals. Communications and media specialists often research all of these aspects of health care data.
Access Details: The CD-ROM has been loaded onto the GIS/Statistical Software computer B3 in the O’Neill Library EIC (this computer has SPSS and Stata already installed). A documentation manual describing the various data elements is available at the Reference Desk. The License for Usage with Terms of Agreement is very strict. Only current members of the Boston College community may sign-up (at the O’Neill Library Reference Desk) to use the database.
For further information contact Wanda Anderson, Nursing Librarian, wanda.anderson@bc.edu or Barbara Mento, O’Neill Library Data Librarian, barbara.mento@bc.edu. Our data librarian and ITS Research Services researchservices@bc.edu are available for assistance in accessing or analyzing the data.
Wanda Anderson
Nursing Librarian
Barbara Mento
Data Librarian
