Max Rady College of Medicine

Manitoba Population Research Data Repository Data Descriptions

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Name Medical Claims - Medical Services
Summary Health data maintained by Manitoba Health consisting of claims for visits to physicians/primary care providers in offices, hospitals and outpatient departments; fee-for-service components for tests such as lab and x-ray procedures performed in offices and hospitals; payments for on-call agreements (e.g. anaesthetists) that are not attributed to individual patients; as well as information about physician specialties. These data files contain records for both Manitoba and non-Manitoba residents who visit Manitoba providers. Some information is also included for services received by Manitoba residents from providers in other provinces. In Manitoba, fee-for-service providers must submit claims to Manitoba Health for reimbursement; a small proportion of salaried physicians/providers also submit evaluation claims (shadow billing).

Source Agency Manitoba Health
Purpose Primarily reimbursement for physician/primary care provider services. Most providers in Canada are paid on a fee-for-service basis negotiated by the provincial medical associations and reflect the time and resources required to perform a procedure. In Manitoba fee-for-service providers must submit claims to Manitoba Health for reimbursement and a small proportion of salaried physicians/providers also submit evaluation claims (shadow billing).
Years March 23, 2000 to January 23, 2025 (Monthly Data)

Permanent Medical Statistical file: MB residents served in MB, Quebec, or out-of-country April 1, 1970 to March 31, 2024 (Annual Data)

Reciprocal file: MB residents receiving services in out-of-province facilities April 1, 1993 to March 31, 2024 (Annual Data)

Non-statistical file: services provided in Manitoba to out-of-province patients, and some non-fee-for-services for MB residents in MB April 1, 1993 to March 31, 2024 (Annual Data)

See the MCHP Data List for a complete list of data in the Repository and the years currently available.
Type Administrative Health
Size 12-17 million records per year with approximately 40 data elements; Monthly data from January 15, 2001 to January 23, 2025 contains 4,653,279 records.
Data Level Individual person (de-identified)
Components Permanent Medical Statistical file - Manitoba residents served in Manitoba, Quebec, or out-of-country

Reciprocal - Manitoba residents receiving services in out-of-province facilities.

Non-statistical file - services within Manitoba for out-of-province patients, and some non-fee-for-services for Manitoba residents:

Monthly Medical Claims / Medical Services data (services provided in Manitoba only)
Scope All Manitoba residents receiving services from Manitoba providers. Some information is also included for services received by Manitoba residents from providers in other provinces, but these may be coded using a different system.

All non-Manitoba residents receiving services from Manitoba providers. Out-of-province patients cannot be distinguished from one another.
Data Collection Method Claims are submitted by providers electronically to Manitoba Health for reimbursement. Tariffs, or codes assigned to specific procedures within a specialty, are recorded, as well as the provider billing number.
Data Highlights Claims for the following are included in the medical services database:

  • Physician/provider visits in offices, hospitals and outpatient departments
  • Fee-for-service components for tests such as lab and x-ray procedures performed in offices and hospitals (including emergency room and outpatient departments)
  • Payments for on-call agreements (anaesthetists) which are not attributed to individual patients.

Highlights of the data content include:

  • Scrambled Physician/Provider Billing Number
  • Physician/Provider type/specialty
  • Tariff (service) code
  • Service date
  • Fee information
  • Diagnosis Code: ICD-9-CM coding from 1979/03/01 to present; ICD-8 from 1972/03/01 to 1979/02/28; ICD-7 and ICDA-8 from 1970/01/01 to 1972/02/28.
Data Cautions New cluster of data created in October, 2023 to accommodate change to / addition of a patient-related, character variable named REGNO_CODE.

The monthly updates starting in October 23, 2024 now contain the new 6 character, alphanumeric code for REGNO_CODE.

  • This update was put into a new cluster (_V3).

NOTE: For most of the data, only one diagnosis code is recorded for each claim. For data prior to 2015/16, the diagnosis code is recorded at the 3-digit level.

  • When the 2017/18 Medical Services data was acquired in December 2018, a 5-digit diagnosis code variable was added to the data to provide more specific diagnosis information. Some of these values may only contain 4-digit diagnosis codes. If recorded, the first 3-digits of both diagnosis code variables will match exactly. The 5-digit diagnosis code variable is applicable to all records from 2015/16 forward but may not be available for all the records.

Access Requirements

The process for arranging access to the MCHP Data Repository is outlined in the Applying for Access and Use section of our website.
More Information Related Concepts and Glossary Terms
References Medical Claims / Medical Services Data Quality - VIMO Reports
Last Updated February 27, 2025



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Manitoba Centre for Health Policy

Community Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine
Rady Faculty of Health Sciences,
Room 408-727 McDermot Ave.
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB  R3E 3P5 Canada

info@cpe.umanitoba.ca
204-789-3819