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MEPS
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
Pharmacy 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 is 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 services 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.
Return To General FAQs
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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