An official website of the United States government.
Is NPDB data specifically designed for research purposes?
No. The NPDB's mission is to improve health care quality, protect the public, and reduce health care fraud and abuse in the U.S. The data collected primarily serves administrative and regulatory needs. Additional fields useful for research may not be required or may be left empty by reporters if the information is not readily available. Researchers should be aware of these potential data gaps, as they reflect the NPDB's focus on regulatory reporting rather than comprehensive data collection for research.
Other Questions You May Find Helpful
- Can researchers access confidential variables not included in the public use file (PUF)?
- Why does the NPDB not fulfill all data requests from researchers?
- Can researchers use NPDB data to identify trends in health care practitioner behavior over time?
- Why are certain fields in NPDB data not consistently populated across reports?
