Redesign and operation of the National Home And Hospice Care Survey, 2007

This methods report provides an overview of the redesigned National Home and Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS) conducted in 2007. NHHCS is a national probability sample survey that collects data on U.S. home health and hospice care agencies, their staffs and services, and the people they serve. The redesigned survey included computerized data collection, greater survey content, increased sample sizes for current home health care patients and hospice care discharges, and a first-ever supplemental survey called the National Home Health Aide Survey.

The 2007 NHHCS was conducted between August 2007 and February 2008. NHHCS used a two-stage probability sampling design in which agencies providing home health and/or hospice care were sampled. Then, up to 10 current patients were sampled from each home health care agency, up to 10 discharges from each hospice care agency, and a combination of up to 10 patients/discharges from each agency that provided both home health and hospice care services. In-person interviews were conducted with agency directors and their designated staff; no interviews were conducted directly with patients. The survey instrument contained agency- and person-level modules, sampling modules, and a self-administered staffing questionnaire.

Data were collected on 1036 agencies, 4683 current home health care patients, and 4733 hospice care discharges. The first-stage agency weighted response rate (for differential probabilities of selection) was 59%. The second-stage patient/discharge weighted response rate was 96%. Three public-use files were released: an agency-level file, a patient/discharge-level file, and a medication file. The files include sampling weights, which are necessary to generate national estimates, and design variables to enable users to calculate accurate standard errors.