Purchase Customized Data

PHC4 collects approximately 5 million inpatient and ambulatory/outpatient records combined each year from hospitals and freestanding ambulatory surgery centers in Pennsylvania. This data, which includes facility charges and treatment information, is collected on a quarterly basis. Each piece of data is subjected to standard validation processes and verified for accuracy by the hospital or facility that reports it.

We share this data with the public not only through public reports on our website, but through special data request purchases.

For a fee, businesses, organizations, or individuals can request standard “ready-to-use” data from PHC4 or custom data that is generated based on the specific needs of the populations you’re working with. We can also link our data to other data sources, such as the Pennsylvania vital statistics data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, to provide even greater value to you.

How to Submit a Data Request

It’s easy to request the data you need from PHC4. The steps below will walk you through the process of submitting a data request.

1. Review the available data, data descriptions, time periods, and file layouts under Available Data. You can find data fees under Data Price Structure.
2. Determine the nature of your request:
   • Inpatient and/or ambulatory/outpatient procedure and/or financial data
   • Standard or custom data
   • Dataset (record-level) or report (aggregated groupings)
   • Time period
3. Determine your client classification. There are several client classifications for the purpose of purchasing data and how the data will be used. Determination of client classification is subject to review:
   • Commercial – any corporation, coalition, association, organization, or individual that requests to resell or redistribute any of PHC4’s data or the resultant analysis from the data for a profit. This can include using the data in software products or in analysis for profitable consultation with clients. Examples of commercial clients include software vendors and health care and business consultants.
   • Non-Commercial – any corporation, coalition, association, organization, or individual that requests data to use internally for their own purposes and analysis. This can include, but is not limited to, hospitals and other health care providers, purchasers, insurers, and consumers.
   • Researcher – any university-based researcher who requests PHC4 data for the benefit of the health care system.
   • Government – any Pennsylvania state agency that requests data to use for government-related purposes.
   • Government Multi-use – any government agency, other than a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania state agency, that requests data for multiple research-related purposes, including limited and restricted redistribution, reselling of data samples, or in aggregate.
   • Press – any news industry of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public through print media (newspapers, newsmagazines), broadcast news (radio and television), and the internet (online newspapers); all entities regulated by the Federal Communications Commission will be considered, determination of eligibility is subject to review.
4. Download and complete the applicable PHC4 Data Requests Application:
   • Application – Commercial
   • Application – Non-Commercial, Researcher, Press
   • Application – Government
5. Return the completed application by email or mail.
   Email: [email protected]
   Address: Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council
   Special Requests
   225 Market Street, Suite 400
   Harrisburg, PA 17101
6. PHC4 staff will review the request to determine if the data file can be prepared according to your specifications. If necessary, PHC4 will contact you and attempt to satisfy your request based on the availability of the data. Your request must then be approved by the Executive Director, and in some cases, the council.
7. A PHC4 analyst will produce the data file once it has been approved.
8. A cost quote will be provided to you followed up with an invoice.
9. Payments for invoices (please reference invoice number) will be paid using an online payment system or by check made out to Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.
10. Completed data requests files will be transferred to you after PHC4 receives full payment.