Data Requests for Applied Public Health Research
Thank you for your interest in using NC DETECT emergency department visit data for public health research purposes. At this time researchers must be based in North Carolina to receive NC DETECT datasets.
September 10, 2026 Notice: Due to limited resources, we are temporarily unable to accept research data requests. Please check back after November 16 or contact us at ncdetect@listserv.med.unc.edu if you have any questions.
To expedite the data request process, the NC Division of Public Health has developed a standardized limited dataset of NC DETECT emergency department data that serves the needs of most applied public health researchers. The data elements included in this dataset are listed in the table below. Requesting this limited dataset rather than a customized one is strongly encouraged.
| Data Element Name | Description/Notes |
|---|---|
| Internal Tracking ID | NC DETECT-generated identifier that uniquely identifies a patient in a healthcare facility/system. Can be used to track repeat visits by the same patient to the same facility/system. Associated with the Medical Record Number |
| Patient Age | Available in years |
| Sex | M (Male), F (Female), U (Unknown) |
| Race and Ethnicity | Data were 50% complete starting in January 2016 and 90% complete starting in August 2016 |
| Patient County | Patient’s county of residence |
| Patient ZIP | Patient’s ZIP of residence (3-digit) |
| Patient State | Patient’s state of residence |
| Visit ID | NC DETECT-generated identifier that uniquely identifies a specific ED visit. Associated with the Account Number |
| Insurance Coverage (or Other Expected Source of Payment) | Entity or person expected to be responsible for patient’s bill for this ED visit (private insurance, self-pay, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) coded values, code descriptions and free text values |
| Arrival Date/Time of Day | First date and time (2-hour time blocks) documented in patient’s record for this ED visit |
| Transport Mode | Patient’s mode of transport to ED (walk-in, ground ambulance, etc.) coded values, code descriptions, and free text values |
| Chief Complaint | Patient’s reason for seeking care or attention, expressed in terms as close as possible to those used by patient or responsible informant |
| Blood Pressure | Blood pressure taken at triage (when available) |
| Initial Temperature | Temperature taken at triage (in Celsius) (when available) |
| Disposition | Patient’s anticipated location or status following ED visit (discharged, admitted, transferred, died, etc.) coded values, code descriptions, and free text values |
| Disposition Diagnosis Description | Practitioner’s description of condition or problem for which services were provided during patient’s ED visit, recorded at time of disposition |
| Diagnosis Code(s) | ICD-9-CM (through 9/30/2015) or ICD-10-CM Final Diagnosis Codes (10/1/2015 to present). NOTE: NC DETECT does NOT receive a "primary" diagnosis. The order of the ICD-9/10-CM codes in NC DETECT does not convey any meaning. |
| Procedure Code(s) | ICD-9-PCS and ICD-10-PCS, and CPT codes |