Trends and Regional Variation in Carotid Revascularization

<h2>Overview</h2>
<p>The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice (TDI) has created a publicly available source of data that provides researchers, payers, regulators, and innovators with metrics that quantify temporal and regional patterns of health care spending and utilization in the United States. Using CMS Medicare claims data (mostly for age >64 enrollees), Atlas researchers built cohorts (“denominators”) and numerous measures or events (“numerators”) which were then used to calculate rates either by geography or for patients assigned to specific hospitals. These rates, which are calculated consistently across time and place, provide researchers with opportunities to evaluate spatial and temporal variation/trends. </p>

<p>This entry contains carotid artery revascularization rates for fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare beneficiaries, age 65 to 99. The rates combine two methods of carotid artery revascularization: carotid endarterectomy and carotid artery stenting. Rates are provided at the hospital referral region (HRR) level for two years, 1998 and 2007, and all rates have been adjusted for age, sex, and race.</p>

<p>Users downloading data should review the methods sections of the related publications for context. All reports in the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care series are available from the National Library of Medicine <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK584737/"> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK584737/ </a>
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