Usability of German hospital administrative claims data for healthcare research: General assessment and use case of multiple myeloma in Munich university hospital in 2015–2017

To assess the usability of German hospital administrative claims data (GHACD) to determine inpatient management patterns, healthcare resource utilization, and quality-of-care in patients with multiple myeloma (PwMM). Based on German tertiary hospital's claims data (2015-2017), PwMM aged >18 years were included if they had an International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, code of C90.0 or received anti-MM therapy. Subgroup analysis was performed on stem cell transplantation (SCT) patients. Of 230 PwMM, 59.1% were men; 56.1% were aged [greater than or equal to]65 years. Hypertension and infections were present in 50% and 67.0%, respectively. Seventy percent of PwMM received combination therapy. Innovative drugs such as bortezomib and lenalidomide were given to 36.1% and 10.9% of the patients, respectively. Mean number of admissions and mean hospitalization length/patient were 3.69 (standard deviation (SD) 2.71 (1-16)) and 12.52 (SD 9.55 (1-68.5)) days, respectively. In-hospital mortality was recorded in 12.2%. Seventy-two percent of SCT patients (n = 88) were aged [less than or equal to]65 years, 22.7% required second transplantation, and 89.8% received platelet transfusion at a mean of 1.42(SD 0.63 (1-3)). GHACD provided relevant information essential for healthcare studies about PwMM from routine care settings. Data fundamental for quality-of-care assessment were also captured.