title: Validation of the Minimum Data Set in identifying hospitalization events and payment source.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the accuracy of the Minimum Data Set (MDS) in identifying hospitalization events and payment source among nursing home residents.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 2003 MDS, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review File (MedPAR), Medicare denominator file, Medicaid Analytical Extract (MAX) long-term care file, and MAX personal summary file for 4 states (California, Ohio, New York, and Texas) were obtained and merged.
  
  
  METHODS
  All Medicare/Medicaid-certified nursing ho-mes in these 4 states during 2003.
  
  
  METHODS
  All nursing home residents who were eligible for Medicare. Medicare or Medicaid managed care enrollees were excluded.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using the identification by linking the MDS and claims data as the "gold standard," we calculated false negative and false positive error rates of the MDS in identifying hospitalization events and payment source.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As for the accuracy of the MDS in identifying hospitalization events, the false negative error rates ranged from 6.8% to 19.5% and the false positive error rates were between 12.0% and 15.7%, depending on the state. With regard to the identification of Medicare payment source, the MDS had a low false negative rate (varying from 0.4% to 1.1%), and a relatively high false positive rate (ranging from 6.1% to 14.9%). The MDS alone did not seem to be a sufficient source for identification of Medicaid payment source (false negative rate ranging from 11.0% to 55.3%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The accuracy of the MDS in identifying hospitalizations and payment sources varies across the study states, and should be evaluated carefully with regard to the intended uses of the data.
authors.affiliation: Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research, The Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA. Shubing_Cai@brown.edu
authors.forename: Shubing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Dana B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Mukamel
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Veazie
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Temkin-Greener
mesh_terms: D014487:Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007345:Insurance Claim Review; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011786:Quality Control; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014481:United States