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About the Healthcare Assessment Research Branch
The Healthcare Assessment Research Branch (HARB) is one of three branches in NCI's Healthcare Delivery Research Program.
We foster research that identifies and monitors factors impacting the uptake, use, and effectiveness of healthcare services across the cancer care continuum, from prevention and screening through survivorship. Geographic, demographic, economic, and healthcare system factors, among other issues, can all affect the specific cancer care an individual receives, for better or worse. Our ultimate goal in assessing these drivers is to improve cancer care delivery in the United States.
In addition to supporting relevant research by the extramural community, we carry out our mission by developing, improving, and/or supporting a spectrum of unique data resources that provide critical information about the provision of cancer care delivery in the U.S. We also evaluate and promulgate the best methods for their use.
Our major data resources and research initiatives include:
- Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Cancer Survivorship Supplement
- National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Cancer Control Supplement
- Patterns of Care/Quality of Care Studies
- Physician Surveys
- Population-based Research to Optimize the Screening PRocess (PROSPR)
- SEER-Medicare Linked Data Resource