Description:
In MEPS, hospital care information are collected for each type of hospital setting (emergency room, inpatient, and outpatient department). Hospital inpatient stays/visits/use/events include information on operations, whether the stay begin with ER visit, the number of nights in a hospital, reason for the stay, conditions related to the inpatient stay, and whether the stay took place in a VA facility. Expenditures for hospital inpatient services consist of payments from all sources such as direct payments from individuals, private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, Workers' Compensation, and miscellaneous other sources. Expenditures typically incorporate those for facility and
separately billed physicians' services and expenses for
emergency room services that immediately preceded a hospital stay. Hospital Inpatient Stays Files are available as part of the
event-level files. Information summarized to the person-level is available on the full-year consolidated files under the
Household Full Year Files.