The Results Are Only as Good as the Sample: Assessing Three National Physician Sampling Frames
The Results Are Only as Good as the Sample: Assessing Three National Physician Sampling Frames
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DOI：
10.1007/s11606-015-3380-9
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发表时间：
2015-08-01
影响因子：
5.7
通讯作者：
Rich, Eugene C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
DesRoches, Catherine M.;Barrett, Kirsten A.;Rich, Eugene C.
执业医生的数据库对于需要对医生进行抽样或对给定地区的医生人口进行计数的研究非常重要。然而，很少有人知道这三个主要的抽样框架是如何彼此不同的。我们的目的是比较国家提供者和计划枚举系统（NPPES），美国医学协会主文件和SK&A医生文件。我们随机抽样3000名医生从NPPES（500在六个专业）。我们对三个数据库进行了双向和三向比较，以确定它们在地址和专业方面的匹配程度。此外，我们随机选择了1200名医生（每个专业200名）进行电话验证，在所有三个数据文件中发现了1655名医生（55%）。与NPPES相比，SK&A数据文件的医生缺失率最高，并且因专业而异（放射科50%，心脏科28%）。NPPES和SK&A的邮件地址信息匹配率最高，而AMA主文件的匹配率低于NPPES。我们能够通过电话确认65%的医生的地址信息。NPPES和SK&A在电话验证中的地址信息正确率相似（72- 94%和79- 92%，在各专业），而美国医学会主文件有显着较低的正确率地址信息在所有专业这项研究中的数据文件都不完美;我们无法达到电话验证样本的三分之一，这一事实令人不安。然而，这项研究为进行医生调查的研究人员提供了一些鼓励。NPPES和SK&A文件（在较小程度上）似乎为医生向公众和供应商保险公司收费提供了合理准确的最新地址信息。
Databases of practicing physicians are important for studies that require sampling physicians or counting the physician population in a given area. However, little is known about how the three main sampling frames differ from each other.Our purpose was to compare the National Provider and Plan Enumeration System (NPPES), the American Medical Association Masterfile and the SK&A physician file.We randomly sampled 3000 physicians from the NPPES (500 in six specialties). We conducted two- and three-way comparisons across three databases to determine the extent to which they matched on address and specialty. In addition, we randomly selected 1200 physicians (200 per specialty) for telephone verification.One thousand, six hundred and fifty-five physicians (55 %) were found in all three data files. The SK&A data file had the highest rate of missing physicians when compared to the NPPES, and varied by specialty (50 % in radiology vs. 28 % in cardiology). NPPES and SK&A had the highest rates of matching mailing address information, while the AMA Masterfile had low rates compared with the NPPES. We were able to confirm 65 % of physicians' address information by phone. The NPPES and SK&A had similar rates of correct address information in phone verification (72-94 % and 79-92 %, respectively, across specialties), while the AMA Masterfile had significantly lower rates of correct address information across all specialties (32-54 % across specialties).None of the data files in this study were perfect; the fact that we were unable to reach one-third of our telephone verification sample is troubling. However, the study offers some encouragement for researchers conducting physician surveys. The NPPES and to a lesser extent, the SK&A file, appear to provide reasonably accurate, up-to-date address information for physicians billing public and provider insurers.