USING STATA
    
  There are two ways to read the 2015 NAMCS public-use data file into Stata:

  Option 1 - Use the zipped file namcs2015-stata.zip in the Stata folder on 
  the FTP server to open a complete Stata dataset of the 2015 NAMCS public use file.

  The steps for this option are as follows:

  1) Create a new folder on your local workstation, for example, C:\MYFILES\NAMCS2015

  2) Download to the new folder the file namcs2015-stata.zip from the FTP server: 
     ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/dataset_documentation/namcs/stata

  3) namcs2015-stata.zip is a compressed file which you must unzip prior to use. 
     In order to do this, double click on the file name in your directory screen; 
     an option to unzip the file should appear. A new folder, namcs2015-stata, will probably 
     be created, depending on the software your system uses. The unzipped file namcs2015.dta 
     will be within that folder. This is the Stata dataset. You can then 
     move the file to your preferred location.

     Alternately, you can right-click on the name of the compressed file from your directory screen. 
     On the pop-up menu, there should be an option to extract the file to a location of your choosing.

  4) To use the Stata dataset, this example is for a file saved to the folder C:\MyFiles\NAMCS2015.
     Open Stata and type the following in the command line to point to the location of your file:

     Cd “C:\MyFiles\NAMCS2015”
     Use namcs2015-stata.dta, replace


  Option 2 - Use the DO file (*.do) and dictionary file (*.dct) provided in 
  the “Stata Documentation” section of the Ambulatory Health Care Data website, 
  (under Public Use File Documentation) along with the flat data file (*.zip) 
  in the “Downloadable data files” section, to create a Stata dataset. The file that
  is created should be identical to the file described in Option 1 above. 

  The steps for this option are as follows:

  1) Create a new folder on your local workstation, for example, C:\MYFILES\NAMCS2015

  2) Download to the new folder the 2015 NAMCS dataset (namcs2015.zip) from the FTP server: 
     ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/datasets/namcs

  3) namcs2015.zip is a compressed file which must be unzipped prior to use.
     In order to do this, double click on the file name in your directory screen; 
     an option to unzip the file should appear. A new folder, namcs2015, will probably 
     be created, depending on the software your system uses. The unzipped file namcs2015 
     with no extension will be within that folder. This is the NAMCS dataset. You can then 
     move the file to your preferred location. 

     IMPORTANT: Stata requires a file extension to recognize this as a data file, 
     so simply rename it as namcs2015.raw.

  4) Download to the new folder the namcs2015.do and namcs2015.dct files from the FTP server:
     ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/dataset_documentation/namcs/stata

  4) Open Stata, then open "New Do-file Editor" from the taskbar and enter the following script, making
     sure to point to the folder on your local workstation where you have saved the Stata files:
  
     cd C:\MYFILES\NAMCS2015\
     do namcs2015

     Once this script is in the editor, you can Run Stata from the taskbar.
 
     A note on labels:

     It should be pointed out that Stata will not allow value labels for 
     character (string) format variables.  In the case of NAMCS and NHAMCS data, 
     there are a number of character or string variables, such as DIAG1 (physician's 
     first-listed diagnosis), etc.  For some character variables, we have been able 
     to redefine them as numeric without changing their basic structure and the 
     labels should work.  However, for the diagnosis variables (DIAG1, DIAG2, DIAG3, etc.) which 
     actually contain alpha characters (eg "V") in the string, this was not able to be done.  
     We do also have a numeric recode version of the DIAG variables (DIAG1R, DIAG2R, DIAG3R, etc.), 
     but these will not match with the character format of the ICD-9-CM codes in many cases, 
     and we do not have a set of labels that match with the numeric recode variables for 
     diagnosis codes.        

   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 and Hospital Care Statistics Branch at 
   (301) 458-4600 or by email at ambcare@cdc.gov. 

   For additional information on NCHS data products, please call CDC-INFO at 
   800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636), TTY (888-232-6348), Monday-Friday 8am-8pm EST, 
   or use the CDC-INFO online request form at https://www.cdc.gov/info.