· What makes the NCASP unique is the wide geographic distribution of the hospitals in the network plus the degree of standardization and reporting that exists through Banfield the Pet Hospital, a privately owned company which shares data with Purdue University
· It has been possible to geocode >80% of all addresses
· Banfield currently represents about 2% of the pet population and it is estimated that this proportion will grow to 10% by 2010.
· There is no single human health provider that is comparable in size and geographic scope to Banfield and which has the same degree of standardization of its medical records