Understanding and Utilizing Claim Data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) and Health Insurance Review & Assessment (HIRA) Database for Research

Almost every Korean (97%) is enrolled in the National Health Insurance program, and most receive medical treatment at least once a year. Data are collected by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA), and the results of the review are sent to the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS). The data handled by NHIS and HIRA cover almost the entire population and can be used for various research purposes. NHIS and HIRA support research by making these data available to researchers. The greatest advantage of these data is that they are the only data which include virtually the entire population. Both HIRA and NHIS data are provided in the form of sample data and all (customized) data. NHIS and HIRA data are similar but exhibit minor differences. HIRA data consists of five tables, including general specification details, in-hospital treatment details, disease details, out-of-hospital prescription details, and nursing institution information. NHIS data include death records (including cause of death), some medical examination records, and the socio-economic variables of the subject, such as income, in addition to all the HIRA data. Clinical results of treatments are not recorded in NHIS or HIRA. However, because public data are used for billing purposes, actual research has thus far been limited. Therefore, researchers must develop a study design that can minimize the errors or bias occurring during the course of the study. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly understand the structure and characteristics of NHIS and HIRA data when initiating research.