2009 NATIONAL AMBULATORY MEDICAL CARE SURVEY DATA FILE AND FILE DOCUMENTATION WARNING - DATA USE RESTRICTIONS! Read Carefully before Using The Public Health Service Act (Section 308 (d)) provides that the data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), may be used only for the purpose of health statistical reporting and analysis. Any effort to determine the identity of any reported case is prohibited by this law. NCHS does all it can to assure that the identity of data subjects cannot be disclosed. All direct identifiers, as well as any characteristics that might lead to identification, are omitted from the dataset. Any intentional identification or disclosure of a person or establishment violates the assurances of confidentiality given to the providers of the information. Therefore, users will: 1. Use the data in this dataset for statistical reporting and analysis only. 2. Make no use of the identity of any person or establishment discovered inadvertently and advise the Director, NCHS, of any such discovery. 3. Not link this dataset with individually identifiable data from other NCHS or non-NCHS datasets. By using these data, you signify your agreement to comply with the above-stated statutorily based requirements. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The files listed below comprise the 2009 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey with complete file documentation. For ease of transmission, the data file has been converted into a self- extracting compressed format. To load and expand the NAMCS data file, do the following: first, copy the compressed file onto your hard drive into an appropriate folder (for example, NAMCS). Then doubleclick on the file name from a Windows directory list, such as the Explore screen. (Or, at the Command Prompt, go to that folder and type the name of the file, NAMCS08, without its extension.) A new file will be created (with no extension) in the same folder, which is uncompressed. Prior to the 1999 data release, the NAMCS documentation was produced in multiple files which were then compressed into a single self-extracting file in ASCII format. Beginning with the 1999 release, the documentation file has been produced as a single file in PDF format which can be viewed or downloaded from the above address. This file is not compressed. Size (bytes) File Name File Description Compressed Uncompressed NAMCS09.EXE NAMCS dataset 2.5 MB 31.0 MB DOC09.PDF NAMCS documentation file 1.3 MB CAUTION - Because the NAMCS is a sample survey, the application of weights to the sample data is REQUIRED to produce national estimates of office visits, as well as to accurately assess the sampling error of statistics based on the survey data. Please refer to the appropriate sections of the documentation file for information on how to apply the weights and to obtain relative standard errors of national estimates. For questions, suggestions, or comments concerning NAMCS data, please contact the Ambulatory Care Statistics Branch at (301) 458-4600. For additional information on NCHS data products, contact the: Office of Information Services, NCHS 3311 Toledo Road Hyattsville, MD 20782 Tel: (301) 458-4636 E-mail: nchsquery@cdc.gov Internet: www.cdc.gov/nchs