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Healthcare Data Requirements
Healthcare Data Requirements
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Written by Jera Malone
Updated over 4 months ago

Facilities Data Layout

The fields listed below are considered the minimum requirement, unless noted as optional. Additional fields for miscellaneous site characteristics are acceptable and encouraged for the analysis or for display in the platform.

Field Name

Data Type

Required

Impact on Analysis

Notes

EXTRACT_DATE

DATE: MM/DD/YYYY

Optional

File creation date, unnecessary if the date is in the file name.

FACILITY_NBR

CHARACTER

Required

Defines unique facilities.

Unique facility number. Primary Key matches to the visits and encounters files.

FACILITY_NM

CHARACTER

Required

Facility name for display in SCOUT.

ADDRESS1

CHARACTER

Required

Used to identify the geographic location to be used in modeling.

Street address only. No mall names, shopping center names, or PO Boxes. Suite/unit numbers are acceptable.

ADDRESS2

CHARACTER

Optional

Used to identify the geographic location to be used in modeling.

Optional if needed. Street address only. No mall names, shopping center names, or PO Boxes.

CITY

CHARACTER

Required

STATE

CHARACTER

Required

Postal abbreviation

ZIPCODE

CHARACTER

Required

LATITUDE

DECIMAL

Optional

Buxton will geocode facilities to a Lat/Lon if not provided.

LONGITUDE

DECIMAL

Optional

Buxton will geocode facilities to a Lat/Lon if not provided.

FACILITY_TYPE

CHARACTER

Optional

Used to identify differences in performance based on facility type, if applicable.

e.g., Franchise/Corporate, Freestanding/Mall/In-line, etc. Please include full descriptions, no abbreviations. Optional unless required for project scope. See your Buxton team for details.

FACILITY_STATUS

CHARACTER

Required

Used to identify which facilities to include in model sample set.

e.g., Open, Closed, Pipeline

OPEN_DT

DATE: MM/DD/YYYY

Required

Used to measure stabilization or ramp period for new facilities as well as impact on existing facilities when a new one opens nearby.

The original open date of the facility. No acquisition, remodel, or re-open dates (if available, provide as extra fields).

CLOSE_DT

DATE: MM/DD/YYYY

Required

Used to measure impact on existing facilities when a nearby one closes.

Optional Facility Characteristics

CHARACTER

Optional

May be tested as variables to explain differences in performance.

Optional, for SCOUT display or model testing. One variable per column. e.g., Exam rooms, FTE, Open hours, services offered, etc.

Visits Data Layout

The fields listed below are considered the minimum requirement. Additional fields are acceptable if deemed necessary for this analysis or for display in the platform.

This file should be interpreted as monthly visits performance by facility (and by service line, if required).

Example: Facility 354 had 1,263 visits in January 2023.

Field Name

Data Type

Required

Impact on Analysis

Notes

EXTRACT_DATE

DATE: MM/DD/YYYY

Optional

File creation date, unnecessary if the date is in the file name.

FACILITY_NBR

CHARACTER

Required

Used to join to facility file. Any FACILITY_NBRs present in this performance file that are NOT in the facilities file will not be loaded to the Buxton database for visualization and will not be used for any analysis.

Foreign key to FACILITY_NBR on the facility file

VISITS_MONTH

DATE: MM/DD/YYYY

Required

Historic performance data is used to measure the stabilization or ramp period for new facilities as well as measure the impact on existing facilities when nearby ones open or close.

1 year of data is the minimum required. 3-5 years of data is preferred, but we can accept and use as much as you have available.

Use first day of month if visits are reported by calendar month (e.g., 1/1/2018). If visits are reported by fiscal period, use calendar start date of period and provide period calendar.

3-5 years’ worth of data is preferred (if available)

SERVICE_LINE

CHARACTER

Optional

Will be used to define facility performance by service line if necessary for project scope.

Type of service. Optional unless required for project scope. See your Buxton team for details.

TOTAL_VISITS

DECIMAL

Required

Performance data provided in this file will be used as the dependent variable in modeling. This will be the metric by which we train the model to predict performance at future facilities and identify high vs. low performers.

Total number of patient visits.

Encounters Data Layout

The fields listed below are considered the minimum requirement. Additional fields for miscellaneous patient characteristics are acceptable if deemed necessary for the analysis or for display in the platform.

Field Name

Data Type

Required

Impact on Analysis

Notes

EXTRACT_DATE

DATE: MM/DD/YYYY

Optional

File creation date, unnecessary if the date is in the file name.

PATIENT_ID

CHARACTER

Required

Primary key

FIRSTNAME

CHARACTER

Optional

Used to match to Buxton's internal household database to ensure higher matching accuracy.

Optional, but does increase matching accuracy.

LASTNAME

CHARACTER

Optional

Used to match to Buxton's internal household database to ensure higher matching accuracy.

Optional, but does increase matching accuracy.

ADDRESS

CHARACTER

Required

Home address of the patient informs drive time to a facility and behavioral and psychographic traits of the patient.

CITY

CHARACTER

Required

Home address of the patient informs drive time to a facility and behavioral and psychographic traits of the patient.

STATE

CHARACTER

Required

Home address of the patient informs drive time to a facility and behavioral and psychographic traits of the patient.

Postal abbreviation

ZIPCODE

CHARACTER

Required

Home address of the patient informs drive time to a facility and behavioral and psychographic traits of the patient.

FACILITY_NBR

CHARACTER

Required

Used to join to the facilities file. Only encounters that join to the facilities file will be included in analysis. Any FACILITY_NBRs present in the encounters file that are NOT included in the facilities file will not be loaded for visualization or included in analysis.

Foreign key to FACILITY_NBR on the facilities file.

ENCOUNTER_DT

DATE: MM/DD/YYYY

Required

1 year required, but 3-5 years of data is preferred (if available)

SERVICE_LINE

CHARACTER

Optional

Type of service. Optional unless required for project scope. See your Buxton team for details.

TRANS_AMOUNT

DECIMAL

Required

Used to determine the value of different patient segments.

Revenue

PATIENT_TYPE

CHARACTER

Optional

These can be used to analyze differences in profiles (demographic and psychographic characteristics) as well as viewed as separate layers in SCOUT.

e.g., insurance type, membership, specialty. Optional unless required by project scope.

Common Additional Fields

  • Facilities

    • Relocation/Acquisition Dates

    • Facility Hours

    • FTE by specialty

    • Building Characteristics:

      • Square Footage

      • Visibility

      • Signage

      • Exam room count

    • Services offered

  • Encounters

    • Insurance type

    • Member vs. Non-member

Data Audit Compliance Checklist

The following checklist denotes common points of failure for data audits. By confirming that your data complies with each of the items below, you can help ensure that your data is accepted and moves forward in the data transfer process. If you have any questions or concerns regarding any of the items below, please contact your Buxton team.

General

  • File headers are included in all files

  • Abbreviations include a description, either in the file or in a data dictionary

Facilities

  • Address information is complete and provided for each facility

  • Open date is provided for each facility

Visits

  • All open facilities are present in the visits file

  • Each facility present in the visits file is also present in the facilities file

  • At least 3 years of visits data is provided

  • Facilities are not missing any monthly visits data

  • Data is not provided for future months

  • Service line breakouts, if required, are included

Encounters

  • Duplicate patient IDs are not present

  • Address information is complete for at least 90% of records

  • All facility numbers in this file join to the facilities file

  • Facilities are not missing one or more days of encounters

  • Encounters occur after the facility open date

Tags: Healthcare, Healthcare Data Requirements, Data Requirements, Data Updates, Impact on Analysis, Audit, Field Name

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