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MEPS
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
Medical Care Provider Participants’ Corner
General FAQs
1. What is the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey?
2. Who is sponsoring the study?
3. How are RTI and SSS involved in MEPS?
4. Why is the government conducting this survey?
5. Doesn’t the government already have this information?
6. What will happen to the data collected in this study?
7. Will the information collected be used to regulate fees?
8. Will this information be kept confidential?
9. What should be done with the Authorization Forms?
10. Has MEPS been reviewed by an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?
11. We gave you information last year. Why are you calling again?
12. We are too busy to participate.
1. What is the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey?
The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is a nationwide study
conducted to learn more about the health care services people use, the
charges for those services, and how those services are paid for. MEPS is
conducted annually by the U.S. Public Health Service through the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Major components of MEPS include surveys of:
- a nationally representative sample of households;
- hospitals, physicians, and other medical providers including
pharmacies reported by the household participants; and
- providers of health insurance.
MEPS is the most complete source of data available on health care use and
expenses in the United States.
2. Who is sponsoring the study?
This study is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality (AHRQ) - an agency with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
3. How are RTI and SSS involved in MEPS?
AHRQ has contracted with RTI International (RTI) and Social & Scientific
Systems (SSS) to administer the Medical Provider Component and the Pharmacy
Component of the survey.
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4. Why is the government conducting this survey?
HHS and AHRQ are committed to improving the nation’s
health care system. In recent years, many important changes have taken
place in:
- the ways people choose their providers of medical care;
- the ways in which health care is paid for; and
- the kinds of health insurance plans available and the services
covered by those plans.
These and other changes have created a critical need for continuous
up-to-date information on the types of health care people obtain and how
this care is paid for. MEPS is designed to provide this information to
the public, the health care community, and leaders in government and the
private sector.
5. Doesn’t the government already have this information?
Although the government does sponsor a variety of studies of health
care, none of them matches the unique design of MEPS. By combining
information from medical providers with information from a nationally
representative sample of the general population, MEPS provides
researchers with a rich and comprehensive source of data that can be
used to estimate health care measures for the country as a whole.
Moreover, its continuing design makes MEPS a valuable resource for
tracking changes over time.
6. What will happen to the data collected in this study?
MEPS data are used by a wide variety of researchers and policy
analysts in both the private and public sectors. After individually
identifying information has been removed, MEPS data are made available
to researchers through an annual series of Public Use Files. The series
includes files with data on health insurance coverage at a
point-in-time, the use of and expenditures for health care during the calendar year, and prescribed medicines
Additional files provide information on health care events, health conditions,
employment characteristics, and other aspects of the MEPS household
samples.
AHRQ staff provide a wide range of
services to support users of MEPS data.
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7. Will the information collected be used to regulate fees?
The legislation authorizing this study specifies that the data be
collected for research purposes. It is designed to provide government
policy makers and private researchers with accurate information about
the rapidly changing health care situation in this country and to inform
decisions made about health care policy.
The study is not being conducted to assess the charging practices of
specific medical providers or pharmacies or to support any specific
regulatory purpose. By law, the identity of the individual medical
providers, pharmacies, and patients who participate in the study cannot
be released to persons outside the sponsoring agencies without specific
written authorization.
8. Will this information be kept confidential?
The confidentiality of data collected for MEPS is protected by
Federal law under Sections 924(c) and 308(d) of the Public Health
Service Act [42 U.S.C. 299c-3(c) and 242m(d)]. Identifying information
collected for the study cannot be released without the permission of the
individuals or establishments who provided the information.
Personal identifying information such as names or addresses are
removed before information from the survey is made available to
researchers. Findings are published in statistical summaries and tables
and micro-data is released on "public use" data files.
Users of MEPS Public Use Data Files are subject to a data use
agreement that stipulates data can only be used for statistical
analysis. Non-compliance violates Title 18 part 1 Chapter 47 Section
1001 and is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 or up to 5 years in
prison.
9. What should be done with the Authorization Forms?
There is no study requirement that you keep the authorization forms.
You may handle them in accordance with your privacy procedures.
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10. Has MEPS been reviewed by an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?
MEPS has been reviewed and approved by the Westat IRB,
established under a multi-project assurance (MPA M-1531) granted by
the Office for Protection from Research Risks, (OPRR). The project
is reviewed and the approval renewed annually.
Additionally, the RTI IRB annually reviews and approves the study protocols to the MEPS Medical Provider and Pharmacy Component.
11. We gave you information last year. Why are you calling again?
The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey is a continuing data
collection effort designed to track changes in health status, use of
health care services, costs for health care and access to health
care. Each year a new sample of households is selected to provide
data for the study for two full calendar years. And each year the
MEPS Medical Provider Component contacts the
pharmacies/hospitals/medical providers reported by the household
participants. A provider may be contacted in successive years if a
household reports receiving care in consecutive years or if
households in a new sample report seeing the same providers as
households in a previous sample.
12. We are too busy to participate.
We appreciate the many demands made for the time and attention of
MPC participants and have designed the study to minimize the effort
required to provide this critically needed information. The design
allows for information to be provided electronically, by phone, through mail, or by fax.
MEPS staff are prepared to work with providers to facilitate
their participation.
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