The Area Health Resources File (AHRF)

The Area Health Resources Files (AHRF) include data on Health Care Professions, Health Facilities, Population Characteristics, Economics, Health Professions Training, Hospital Utilization, Hospital Expenditures, and Environment at the county, state and national levels, from over 50 data sources.

QRS has maintained and expanded the Area Health Resources File System (AHRF) for the past twenty years under a series of competitive procurements. Under these contracts, QRS has identified, evaluated, and integrated health sector and demographic data available at the county and lower geographic levels. One product of this effort is an annually-updated file with over 6,000 variables of interest to the health services research, health policy, and health planning communities. Data are obtained from more than 50 sources and are integrated into the AHRF, including data from the American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, National Center Health Statistics, and Census. The annual AHRF files are made available in ASCII, ACCESS, and SAS formats.

The AHRF contract is managed by the Bureau of Health Workforce (DHHS/HRSA) with funding provided by the Bureau as well as other DHHS agencies, including AHRQ, CMS, and CDC/NCHS.