Nesting or resolution? Facility proxies for variance estimation versus confounding adjustment in claims data without facility identifiers
In claims databases, facility identifiers are often removed during de-identification, leaving only coarse attributes such as bed size. Yet facility information is needed for variance estimation, confounding adjustment and assessment of treatment availability. We examined whether accreditation-gated billing items can build strata standing for hospitals, and how to construct a facility proxy for each use. In 1,730,736 adults undergoing surgery (Medical Data Vision database, Japan, 2019-2023), we built marker-pattern strata from 66 accreditation-gated receipt codes (markers) and evaluated each grouping against a true facility identifier in an insurer-based database (DeSC Healthcare) and in simulation. The variance explained by the marker-pattern strata decreased with the extent to which a variable was patient- rather than hospital-determined ($R^2$ 0.921 for an accreditation item, 0.036 for sex). For variance estimation, the supplied-attribute cells, which can merge but never split hospitals, kept the type I error rate at 4.8% with a wild cluster bootstrap, against 5.4% for the true identifier and 39% when clustering was ignored; every finer marker-based grouping did worse. For adjustment, evaluated with real facility-level confounders and simulated null exposures, the marker pattern removed 51% of the confounding related to accreditation-linked facility characteristics, against 8% for the cells. The proportion of patients in groups mixing hospitals with and without the relevant accreditation was 49% for the marker pattern against 98% for the cells. No single facility proxy serves every purpose: nesting governs variance estimation, and resolution governs adjustment and treatment availability. Without a facility identifier, the supplied-attribute cells can carry the standard errors, and marker-pattern strata are worth considering for the other two uses.