Race and ethnicity variables are commonly used in research using administrative claims data sets. Recently updated guidelines on the use of race and ethnicity in medical journals specify that the methods section of articles "should include an explanation of who identified participant race and ethnicity and the source of the classification used." 1 Administrative claims data sets, consisting of insurance claims and/or electronic health record data, are a frequent and increasingly used source for

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... medical research. A MEDLINE search of titles and abstracts from cohort and case-control studies using large, national-level administrative claims data sets shown in the Table [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] returns more than 10 000 articles in the past 5 years. Analyses in administrative claims data sets frequently include race and ethnicity, when available, in analytic models as covariables (eg, confounders) or as part of the primary research question (eg, comparing outcomes by race). However, the articles reporting such analyses do not always include an explanation of how and by whom participant race and ethnicity were determined Author affiliations and article information are listed at the end of this article.