General Hot-Deck Imputation. A weighted sequential hot-deck procedure was used to impute for missing expenditures as well as total charge. This procedure uses survey data from respondents to replace missing data while taking into account the respondents’ weighted distribution in the imputation process. Classification variables vary by event type in the hot-deck imputations, but total charge and insurance coverage are key variables in all of the imputations. Separate imputations were performed for nine categories of medical provider care: inpatient hospital stays, outpatient hospital department visits, emergency room visits, visits to physicians, visits to non-physician providers, dental services, home health care by certified providers, home health care by paid independents, and other medical expenses. Within each event type file, separate imputations were performed for flat fee and simple events. After the imputations were finished, visits to physician and non-physician providers were combined into a single medical provider file. The two categories of home care also were combined into a single home health file.
General Hot-Deck Imputation. A weighted sequential hot-deck procedure was used to impute for missing expenditures as well as total charge. This procedure uses survey data from respondents to replace missing data, while taking into account the respondents’ weighted distribution in the imputation process. Classification variables vary by event type in the hot-deck imputations, but total charge and insurance coverage are key variables in all of the imputations. Separate imputations were performed for nine categories of medical provider care: inpatient hospital stays, outpatient hospital department visits, emergency room visits, visits to physicians, visits to non-physician providers, dental services, home health care by certified providers, home health care by paid independents, and other medical expenses. Within each event type file, separate imputations were performed for flat fee and simple events. After the imputations were finished, visits to physician and non-physician providers were combined into a single medical provider file. The two categories of home care also were combined into a single home health file. Expenditures for services provided by separately billing doctors in hospital settings were also edited and imputed. These expenditures are shown separately from hospital facility charges for hospital inpatient, outpatient, and emergency room care.
General Hot-Deck Imputation. A weighted sequential hot-deck procedure was used to impute for missing expenditures as well as total charge. This procedure uses survey data from respondents to replace missing data while taking into account the respondents’ weighted distribution in the imputation process. Classification variables vary by event type in the hot-deck imputations, but total charge and insurance coverage are key variables in all of the imputations. Separate imputations were performed for nine categories of medical provider care: inpatient hospital stays, outpatient hospital department visits, emergency room visits, visits to physicians, visits to non-physician providers, dental services, home health care by certified providers, home health care by paid independents, and other medical expenses. After the imputations were finished, visits to physician and non-physician providers were combined into a single medical provider file. The two categories of home care also were combined into a single home health file. Capitation Imputation The imputation process was also used to make expenditure estimates at the event level for events that were paid on a capitated basis. The capitation imputation procedure was designed as reasonable approach to complete event level expenditures for respondents in managed care plans. This procedure was conducted in two stages. First, HMO events reported in the MPC as covered by capitation arrangements were imputed using similar HMO events paid on a fee-for-service, with total charge as a key variable. Then this completed set of MPC events was used as the donor pool for unmatched household-reported events for sample persons in HMOs. By using this strategy, capitated HMO events were imputed as if the provider were reimbursed from the HMO on a discounted fee-for- service basis. Data Editing and Imputation Methodology for Hospital Inpatient Stays Facility expenditures for inpatient hospital stays were developed in a sequence of logical edits and imputations. “Household” edits were applied to sources and amounts of payment for all events reported by HC respondents. “MPC” edits were applied to provider-reported sources and amounts of payment for records matched to household-reported events. Both sets of edits were used to correct obvious errors (as described above) in the reporting of expenditures. After the data from each source were edited, a decision was made as to whether household- or MPC-reported information would be used in the final editing and hot-de...
