Using Administrative Data for Health Services Research

3 units

The objective of this advanced graduate course is to prepare students to understand and use large administrative healthcare databases to perform epidemiologic / health services research. Lectures will cover the translation of clinical care into healthcare utilization data, review various types of national and state administrative databases, describe methods for administrative database research, and emphasize key issues related to data security and confidentiality. We will consider the strengths and limitations of observational studies using large databases to augment evidence from randomized clinical trials. Students will get hands-on experience with administrative data via programming with R statistical software. Students will develop and present to the class a research proposal in their own area of interest using administrative data. Students will further gain experience with healthcare database research by reviewing journal articles weekly. Course note: To register for this course, students must either have a terminal degree (e.g. PhD, PharmD, MD) or submit a one-page project idea to be approved by the instructor and have the commitment of a WashU clinical faculty mentor.