The HCUP Maine inpatient files were constructed from the Maine Health Data Organization inpatient discharge files. As is the case for most inpatient discharge data sets, the Maine database may include records for patients admitted through the emergency room and directly into inpatient care. These records cannot be identified in the database because information on the source of admission or revenue codes are not provided

These data include inpatient discharge data from general acute care hospitals, including psychiatric and rehabilitation hospitals.

Not all hospitals report a full calendar year of data. Some hospitals close during the year; other hospitals have technical problems that prevent them from reporting a full year.

The documentation provided by Maine does not indicate whether stays in special units within a hospital (e.g., psychiatric, rehabilitation, long-term care) are included in the data.

Records with a discharge disposition of "still a patient" were excluded from the HCUP Maine inpatient data.