Book excerpt: SAS Programming with Medicare Administrative Data is the most comprehensive resource available for using Medicare data with SAS. This book teaches you how to access Medicare data and, more importantly, how to apply this data to your research. Knowing how to use Medicare data to answer common research and business questions is a critical skill for many SAS users. Due to its complexity, Medicare data requires specific programming knowledge in order to be applied accurately. Programmers need to understand the Medicare program in order to interpret and utilize its data. With this book, you'll learn the entire process of programming with Medicare data—from obtaining access to data; to measuring cost, utilization, and quality; to overcoming common challenges. Each chapter includes exercises that challenge you to apply concepts to real-world programming tasks. SAS Programming with Medicare Administrative Data offers beginners a programming project template to follow from beginning to end. It also includes more complex questions and discussions that are appropriate for advanced users. Matthew Gillingham has created a book that is both a foundation for programmers new to Medicare data and a comprehensive reference for experienced programmers. This book is part of the SAS Press program.