Objective :
Every analytics project begins with collecting reliable data. For this project, I downloaded the official CMS Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) dataset to begin building an end-to-end healthcare analytics project using SQL Server and Power BI.
Step 1: Download the Dataset
I downloaded the dataset from the official CMS Provider Data Catalog.
- Go to data.cms.gov/provider-data/
- Search for Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program
- Open the HRRP dataset.
Step 2: Save the Dataset
I downloaded the CSV file and saved it in a project folder so I could use it throughout this healthcare analytics project.
Step 3: Organize the Files
To keep everything organized, I created a folder named 30-Day Hospital Readmission Analysis and stored the downloaded CSV file there.
I also renamed the file to Hospital_Readmissions.csv for consistency while working with SQL Server.
Step 4: Check the Data
Before importing the data into SQL Server, I reviewed the CSV file in Excel to become familiar with the dataset and its columns.
Summary
In this first step, I downloaded and organized the CMS Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program dataset. This completed the first stage of the project and prepared the dataset for import into SQL Server, where I explored and analyzed the data.
Next Post: 2. Understanding the Medicare Readmission Dataset with SQL