title: Survival analysis using Medicare data: example and methods.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe key methods and issues in conducting survival analyses, especially using Medicare (and other) administrative data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Survival analyses are rich , informative, and underutilized methods for examining out comes whose timing is important . Medicare files contain the necessary information for conducting such analyses, including identification of cohorts, definition of events, censoring of observations, and adjustment for covariates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Survival analyses can readily be conducted using the information contained in administrative data files.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Virnig
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ash
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kind
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Mesler
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006738:Hospices / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000401:mortality; D006278:Medicare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009026:Mortality; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology