The purpose of this workshop is to facilitate the understanding of use and application of the nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data as it relates to people of United States.  MEPS data can facilitate research pertaining to demographic characteristics, health conditions and status, use of medical care services, charges and payments, access to care, satisfaction with care, health insurance coverage, income, and employment of civilian non-institutionalized population of the United States. This workshop is targeted for policy makers, federal, state, county, and local health agency officials, health care providers, managed care group personnel, academic researchers and students. The workshop will help the attendees in understating what and how MEPS data and help the researchers in developing and implementing their research plans. The attendees will also learn how to use the online data manipulation tools.

• Understand what MEPS data is and what it collects and how it is collected and disseminated to the research community.
• Learn how to obtain quick statistics on nationally representative healthcare expenditures for different populations across United States using MEPS online tools.
• Understand the structure and contents of the different record levels of MEPS files (i.e. family-, person-, condition-, job-, and medical event-level files).
• Learn how to find and apply MEPS variables for the purpose of developing an analytical file, conducting analyses and interpreting and presenting results as they apply to health policy.

Presenters

• Anita Soni, PhD, MBA, Statistician/Survey Analyst, Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality
• Emily Mitchell, PhD, Statistician, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality