Emergency and ambulatory care is one of the largest-volume patient activities in the country, making it a key component of the continuum of health services in Canada.
To better understand how this facet of care is shaped and shifting, we maintain several databases to provide stakeholders with insight on visits, patient demographics and clinical, administrative and service-specific data related to day surgery, outpatient and community-based clinics and emergency departments.
These databases are core components in carrying out our mandate to deliver quality, unbiased, relevant and reliable information to support decision-making and inform health care discussions. They include
- National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS)
- Discharge Abstract Database (DAD)
- Hospital Morbidity Database (HMDB)
We welcome your feedback and questions
Contact us at cad@cihi.ca.
Have a data inquiry or research question? Make a custom data request.
Emergency and ambulatory care information
Reports and analyses
Reports and analyses
- Your Health System: Insight
- Injury and Trauma Emergency Department and Hospitalization Statistics, 2014–2015 (Jul 2016)
- Ambulance Use for Time-Sensitive Conditions: Stroke and Heart Attack (Jun 2016)
- Emergency Department Highlights in 2014–2015: Information Sheet (Oct 2015)
- Emergency Department Trends, 2012–2013 (Feb 2014)
- Emergency Departments and Children in Ontario (Apr 2008)
Databases and data sources
National Ambulatory Care Reporting System
The National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS) contains data on hospital-based and community-based ambulatory care: day surgery, outpatient and community-based clinics and emergency departments.
Client visit data is collected at the time of service in participating facilities. Data collection methods may vary by facility.
Data submission
CIHI does not mandate data submission to NACRS. Provincial/territorial ministries of health and/or governing bodies that wish to collect ambulatory care data may mandate data collection in their jurisdictions.
The National Ambulatory Care Reporting System is one of CIHI’s 2 core clinical administrative databases. It contains data on emergency and ambulatory care visits, such as those at day surgery and outpatient clinics. For more information, please email cad@cihi.ca.
Methodology
- Comprehensive Ambulatory Classification System (CACS)—A national grouping methodology for ambulatory care patients
- Acute and Ambulatory Care Data Content Standard
Metadata
Metadata is information about data. It helps users understand and interpret data from a specific source.
Find out more about the following data sources:
- Discharge Abstract Database (DAD)
- National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS)
- Hospital Morbidity Database (HMDB)
Key Resources
Job Aids