The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released a new Methods Report entitled Population Denominator Data for Use with the HCUP Databases (Methods Report #2010-02).

The objective of the report is to identify relevant sources of population data that can be used with the HCUP databases to calculate rates of hospital care events per population. This compilation includes data sources that provide nationwide population counts based on people, and not hospitals, physicians, or local resources. State surveys can also be a valuable resource for information on specific subpopulations. Not included are data sources collected by associations or data collected by individual states.

Methods Report #2010-02: Population Denominator Data for Use with the HCUP Databases is available for download from the Methods Report page on the HCUP-US Website.