Files used in the Atlas
The Atlas depends on the integrated use of databases provided by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM), the American Hospital Association (AHA), the American Medical Association, the American Osteopathic Association, and several federal agencies, including the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, the Bureau of the Census, the Health Care Financing Administration, the National Center for Health Statistics, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

To read chapter
To view and print the complete chapter, Appendix on Methods in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, click on the link further below. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print this file.

To download this file to your computer's hard drive, follow the directions applicable to your computer system.

• For Windows users running Microsoft Internet Explorer, click on the mouse's right button and select "Save Target As . . . "
  
  
• For Windows users running Netscape, click on the mouse's right button and select "Save Link As . . . "
  
  
• For Macintosh users running Microsoft Internet Explorer, control-click and select "Download Link to Disk . . . "
  
  
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To get Adobe Acrobat Reader
If you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can get a free copy from the Adobe Web site.

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NOTICE TO ATLAS READERS
While not giving answers, the atlas raises questions about health care service use that merit careful consideration. "High" rates of use are not necessarily bad and "low" volumes good (or vice versa). Our goal is to move toward rates that are consistent with high quality health care, which need to be determined with local clinical, community and patient discussion and dialogue.

The atlas is not a physician or hospital report card. When reviewing data, note that the Hospital Service Areas in the atlas were defined by the atlas author. They may differ significantly from what a hospital considers its market area.