Using administrative data from Manitoba, Canada to study treatment outcomes: developing control groups and adjusting for case severity

Administrative data are becoming increasingly available to health care researchers across North America and Europe. Such data sources are generally thought to be useful for documenting health care utilization. In this report, data from the provincial health insurance system in Manitoba, Canada are used to develop control groups and adjust for case severity. These are necessary prerequisites for using administrative data to study health care outcomes. Key words--health outcomes, assessment, health status, measurement, Canada