Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)

The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP, pronounced "H-Cup") is a family of health care databases and related software tools and products developed through a Federal-State-Industry partnership and sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

HCUP databases bring together the data collection efforts of State data organizations, hospital associations, private data organizations, and the Federal government to create a national information resource of patient-level health care data (HCUP Partners). HCUP includes the largest collection of longitudinal hospital care data in the United States, with all-payer, encounter-level information beginning in 1988. These databases enable research on a broad range of health policy issues, including cost and quality of health services, medical practice patterns, access to health care programs, and outcomes of treatments at the national, State, and local market levels. (from the HCUP website).

Databases include:

• longitudinal hospital care data
• access to national, regional, and State-level hospital inpatient statistics based on HCUP data

Healthcare 411 Podcasts

The Podcast audio program features current news and information from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

AHRQ’s mission is to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. AHRQ is the lead Federal agency in the effort to improve patient safety and reduce medical errors.

Podcast topics include:

• catheter-related infections
• recommendations against the use of Aspirin to prevent colorectal cancer
• searching for health information on the Web
• antidepressants
• off-label use of anti psychotics
  
• more
  

How do I listen to this program?

To listen to any individual audio title, you can simply select the “Listen” button. You will need an mp3 player, a sound card and speakers. System requirements are noted on this page.

You can also read a transcript of each program.

Dream Anatomy

For centuries, artists and physicians have rendered the human body and its anatomy in a myriad of ways, and with the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, the number of anatomical drawings and their like multiplied. Drawing on the collections contained within the National Library of Medicine, this revealing digital exhibit explores some of the ways in which human anatomy has been imagined and represented over the past five centuries or so. These images are divided into a number of thematic sections, including “Anatomical Dreamtime”, “Getting Real”, and Visionary & Visible”. Visitors to the site can also view the winners in a related contest which asked children to draw what they thought the body looked like “under the skin”.