The SPARCS Audit Reports below are organized by Discharge Year and Claim Type (Inpatient [IP], Expanded Outpatient Data [OP], Emergency Department [ED] and Ambulatory Surgery [AS]). Audit Reports summarize the number of discharge/visit claims accepted into the SPARCS data warehouse by discharge month per claim type. The SPARCS Audit Reports are produced every week to provide data submitters with an understanding of whether their files submitted through the intake system match the records that were ultimately accepted into the SPARCS data warehouse.

Note: The audit reports should not be used for public reporting of counts related to understanding hospital inpatient, emergency department, and ambulatory surgery admissions/visits. For public reporting needs for counts by facility, please email SPARCS requests at sparcs.requests@health.ny.gov.

Data Submission Requirements

Data Submission requirements and compliance expectations are described in Public Health Law; Section 400.18 – Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS). The Compliance Reports below are posted monthly to provide facilities with actionable information that will help them achieve compliance. The SPARCS program tracks compliance quarterly and issues warning communications to facilities that are not compliant. After three warnings and no corrective action plan accepted, a Statement of Deficiency (SOD) can be issued.

The submission requirements are as follows:

• 95% of the facility's SPARCS data within sixty 60 days from the end of the month of a patient’s discharge or visit.
• 100% of a facility's SPARCS data within one hundred eighty 180 days from the end of the month of a patient’s discharge or visit.

To submit a request for an exception or extension from SPARCS compliance, use this template and send to SPARCS.Submissions@health.ny.gov.

View Compliance Reports By Facility

• PFI Facility Listing

Note: The Compliance Reports show how each facility’s volume of submission is tracking by month within a calendar year. The report is further broken down by claim type each month (Inpatient (IP), Emergency Department (ED), Ambulatory Surgery (AS)). To support enforcement, an average monthly target volume for each facility by claim type is set. The metric is calculated based on the previous year’s discharges/visits volume (sum of the previous year’s discharges/visits/12). If a facility has met their average monthly target volume for a particular claim type, then the month is highlighted in green. If the facility is not meeting their average monthly target volume for a particular claim type, then the month is highlighted in red. If the facility is excessively over their average monthly target volume (>120 percent) for a particular claim type, the month is highlighted in yellow. The SPARCS program works with facilities that have red months to understand what is impacting their ability to submit data (e.g., sometimes it can be a system issue or other challenge).