The 1998 Hospital Discharge Survey 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 1998 NHDS dataset is located in:
 ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Datasets/NHDS
The documentation file for the 1998 NHDS dataset are located in:
 ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Dataset_Documentation/NHDS
The dataset file listed below has been compressed.  The documentation file is
in pdf. format. To load and expand the dataset file, use a ZIP extraction program (such as PkZip)
to install this data in a directory (folder) on your hard drive.  
                                                                                                 Size (bytes)
File Name                   File Description                              Compressed Uncompressed
NHDS98.ZIP            NHDS dataset file                              5,589,000        26,750,000
NHDS1998.pdf         NHDS documentation file                                               275,102   
                           Total compressed file size (dataset) = 5,589,000
                 Total inflated file size (data set and documentation) = 27,025,102
 
CAUTION - Because the NHDS is a sample survey, the application of weights to the sample
data is needed in order to produce national estimates of inpatient hospital utilization statistics. 
Statement of Authenticity:  This material has been cleared for public distribution by
CDC/ATSDR and will be authentic if obtained directly from ftp.cdc.gov. CDC/ATSDR takes all
effort to assure the authenticity of electronically distributed documents.  However, in all
instances where the electronic and official agency record differ, the authenticity of the official
agency record is controlling. 
For questions, suggestions, or comments concerning NHDS data, please contact the National
Hospital Discharge Survey at (301) 458-4321.  These and other survey data are also available on
CD-ROM and public use data tape, as well as in published summaries.  For additional
information on NCHS data products, contact the:
                                               Data Dissemination Branch, NCHS
                                               3311 Toledo Road
                                               Hyattsville, MD 20782
                                               Tel: (301) 458-4321
                                               E-mail: nchsquery@cdc.gov
                                               Internet: http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/default.htm