Data

The Sheps Center stores and manages various data resources for use in health services research. There are varying rules for who can use these data, and how they can be accessed. These databases are supported by the Comparative Effectiveness Research Strategic Initiative of UNC’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (UL1TR002489), the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, the Department of Epidemiology in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, the Pharmacoepidemiology Gillings Innovation Lab (PEGIL) for the Population-Based Evaluation of Drug Benefits and Harms in Older US Adults (GIL 200811.0010), and the UNC School of Medicine.

Click the “+” buttons below to learn more about Sheps data

NC Hospital Discharge Data

About: Inpatient, Emergency Room and Ambulatory Surgery/Outpatient Hospital Data.

Access: Limited to academic/public health researchers only. By application to the Sheps Center. In some circumstances fees or programming costs are charged.
Learn MoreRequest these data

Carolina Cost and Quality Initiative

About: Public and private insurance claims data from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, NC Medicaid, and NC State Health Plan.

Access: Limited to UNC-CH students and UNC-CH researchers. By application to the Sheps Center. There may be programming costs beyond preliminary discussions and data extractions
Learn MoreRequest these data

MarketScan® Data

About: Commercial Claims and Encounters and Medicare Supplemental Databases.

Access: Limited to UNC-CH students and UNC-CH researchers. By application to the Sheps Center. In some circumstances fees are charged.

Learn MoreRequest these data

Medicare 20% Sample

About: a 20% representative sample of all Medicare beneficiaries 65 years and older with fee-for–service coverage of Medicare Parts A, B, and D.

Access: UNC-CH students and UNC-CH researchers only. Project-specific data use agreement with CMS needed. By application through the CER Strategic Initiative. There may be programming costs beyond preliminary discussions and data extractions.

Learn MoreRequest these data

SEER-Medicare

About: A linked database of individuals diagnosed with 25 selected cancers who are linked to their Medicare fee-for–service claims data, including Medicare Parts A, B, and D.

Access: UNC-CH students and UNC-CH researchers only. Project-specific data use agreement with SEER-Medicare needed. By application through the CER Strategic Initiative. There may be programming costs beyond preliminary discussions and data extractions.

Learn More

Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)

About: All-payer hospital inpatient and emergency department data, both nationwide and from selected states.

Access: Limited to UNC-CH students and UNC-CH researchers. By application through the Sheps Center. There may be programming costs beyond preliminary discussions and data extractions.

Learn MoreRequest these data

NC Health Professions Data System (HPDS)

About: Timely and reliable information on selected licensed health professionals in North Carolina.

Access: Some data is public and some requires prior approval—see website for details. Cost varies, see website for details. Fees determined by data and organization. Some data is free of charge.

Learn More

NC Rural Health Research Program Cartographic Archive

About: Maps of demographics, health status indicators, health care providers and health related services for rural parts of North Carolina and the United States.

Access: Public. Maps available from website.
Learn More

The Healthy Opportunity Pilot

About: Public and private insurance claims data from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and NC Medicaid.

Access: Limited to UNC-CH students and UNC-CH researchers. By application to the Sheps Center. There may be programming costs beyond preliminary discussions and data extractions.

Learn MoreRequest these data

Sheps IT’s Data Analytics and Research Team (DART) also collaborates with research projects performing secondary analyses on data at Sheps (and other environments at UNC!). For more information view our flyer or contact shepscentral@unc.edu.