1993 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.
                      
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   The files listed below comprise the 1993 National Ambulatory Medical
   Care Survey with complete file documentation, all in ASCII format.  
   
   The 1993 NAMCS dataset is located in: 
     ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Datasets/NAMCS
   The documentation files for the 1993 NAMCS dataset are located in:
     ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Dataset_Documentation/NAMCS 

   For ease of transmission, these files have 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 subdirectory (for example, NAMCS).  Then go to the 
   DOS prompt in that subdirectory and type the name of the file (NAMCS93) 
   without its extension.  
   
   The eleven documentation files listed below have been compressed into a 
   single self-extracting file.  To load and expand them, follow the steps 
   above, using the file name DOC93 instead of NAMCS93.   
  
                                                             Size (bytes)
   File Name          File Description                 Compressed Uncompressed
  
   NAMCS93.EXE        NAMCS dataset                     1,193,551  13,563,707       
   DOC93.EXE          NAMCS documentation files           114,475     334,831
   
   The documentation file (DOC93.EXE) will expand to include the following:
   
   DESCRIPT       Description of the NAMCS                             33,483
   LAYOUT         Record layout                                        37,899
   SPECLIST       Physician specialty list                              5,574
   MARGINAL       Marginal data                                        12,093
   RSE            Relative standard errors                             16,809
   TERMS          Definition of survey terms                            5,317
   PRF            Patient Record form                                  24,120
   RVC            Reason for Visit Classification                      82,362
   GENCODES       List of generic codes and names                      48,548
   MEDCODES       List of drug entry codes and names                   62,900
   NDC            List of drug classes                                  5,726

          Total compressed file size (data and documentation) 1,308,026                    
                     Total inflated file size = 13,898,538
                                                                      
   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
   documentation files (DESCRIPT, RSE) for information on how to apply the 
   weights and to obtain relative standard errors of national estimates.


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   For questions, suggestions, or comments concerning NAMCS data, please
   contact the Ambulatory Care Statistics Branch.
   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)458-4636 
                   E-mail: nchsquery@nch10a.em.cdc.gov
                   Internet: http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/nchs/home.htm    

                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
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