There are now a number of new demographic indicators included in the AHRF that can impact the health status of an area as well as the demand for health care services. These include:

Veteran Statistics - including disability, employment, education and expenditures

Disabled population

Health insurance coverage - by income to poverty ratio for total population as well as for children and the elderly

Medicare Advantage Payment Rates based on ACA bonus ratings (effective in 2015)

Medicare Fee for Service beneficiaries, costs and service utilization

Measures of persistent and deep poverty

For unreported geographic areas and data which are suppressed due to small numbers, these values are reported as missing rather than zero on the 2013-2014 and later releases of AHRF ASCII file. Prior versions of the AHRF ASCII file reported these instances in the User Documentation but carried the data as zeros on the file.

In July 2016, new State and National AHRF ASCII data file was released which includes extensive health workforce, employment and training data for over 50 different health professions. These in-depth demographic characteristics about the health workforce are generally not available at the county level. The first release of the State and National AHRF was in September 2013. These files are now released annualy.

The 2015-2016 release of the AHRF is now available for MS Access 2000 and later versions. This system enables users to select both the variables and geographic areas they want to see and to select the format (Excel, CSV, Access table, etc.) in which they want to display the data. The Access version is designed with a front-end component that allows the use of the data without knowing Access and also provides a direct link to the underlying data for those users familiar with Access. In addition, the help file associated with the front-end contains the data source information and definitions previously found only in the User Documentation. Clicking on question mark beside the highlighted variable provides complete source documentation.

Newly updated Health Resources Comparison Tools are now available, comparing similar counties based on population characteristics and health resources.

The new release of the AHRF includes data on air quality, concentrations of ozone and fine particulate matter, and ground contamination.

The 2015-2016 AHRF contains six years of Medicaid eligibles by gender, age, and eligibility status for each county.

The AHRF Technical Documentation now includes links directly to detailed source information for each variable. By clicking on the Source reference for a variable of interest in the Technical Documentation, the user is linked directly to the data source notes in the User Documentation regarding that variable.

Prior to the 2001 release of the AHRF, data for only a few independent cities were broken out from their original counties. The 2001 and subsequent releases of the AHRF contain data for all independent cities as well as for the Alaska boroughs and census areas. All data for 1992 and later are broken out for the independent cities and the Alaska boroughs/census areas unless otherwise noted in the User Documentation.

See complete listing of broken out independent cities and Alaska boroughs/census areas available on 2001 and later releases of the AHRF.

Beginning with the 2001 release of the AHRF, the standard FIPS codes are used rather than the modified FIPS codes previously used. See complete list of revised codes.

For new data added to the 2001 and subsequent releases of the AHRF (Date On is 02/01 or later in the AHRF Technical Documentation) information is provided, when available from the source, for the county equivalent areas of the U.S. Territories Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands See complete listing.