Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Since 1973, the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), administered by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has been widely used in studies of ambulatory care. With the growth in large multispecialty practices – including many members of the HMORN – there is a need to understand how NAMCS data are collected and whether current processes yield accurate and reliable data. NAMCS collects data from physicians about their practices and abstracts a sample of patient visit records. This study reports on the physician component. METHODS: In collaboration with NCHS, nine physicians were randomly sampled from a multispecialty clinic using standard NAMCS recruitment procedures; eight physicians were eligible and agreed to participate. Using their standard protocols, three Field Representatives (FRs) conducted NAMCS physician interviews while a trained ethnographer (MH, KR) observed and audio-recorded each interview. Transcripts and field notes were analyzed using a grounded theory approach to identify key themes. RESULTS: Data have been collected and analyzed. They are currently undergoing standard confidentiality review by NCHS. However, this process has been delayed due to the government shutdown. We fully anticipate that results will be released in time for presentation at the HMORN conference. CONCLUSIONS: Though we are precluded from disseminating results at this time, we will provide a full report of our results in our HMORN conference presentation.