Linking Electronic Health Records to the American Community Survey: Feasibility and Process

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Informatics
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Understanding health disparities requires integrating diverse data sources.
• Social determinants of health significantly impact population health outcomes.
• Electronic Health Records (EHRs) contain valuable patient information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of linking patient data from a healthcare system to American Community Survey (ACS) microdata.
• To enhance the understanding of health disparities and social determinants of health.
• To explore the utility of integrated data for population health management.

Main Methods:

• A stratified random sample of approximately 200,000 patients aged 25-74 was selected.
• Patient EHR data was securely transferred to the Census Bureau for linkage.
• Protected Identification Keys (PIKs) were used to link EHRs to ACS records (2001-2017).

Main Results:

• Protected Identification Keys (PIKs) were assigned to 94% of sampled patients.
• A 15.5% match rate was achieved between EHRs with PIKs and ACS records.
• The linkage process demonstrated feasibility for integrating health and socioeconomic data.

Conclusions:

• Linking EHR data with ACS records is a viable method for studying social determinants of health.
• This data integration approach can improve the understanding of health disparities.
• Integrated data can empower healthcare systems to better address population health needs.