simlandr
Potential landscape tooling settling onto standard R generics after two rounds of renaming.
Comparison · Analytics
healthyR.data vs intsurv
A side-by-side editorial comparison of healthyR.data and intsurv — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
healthyR.data vs intsurv: at a glance
What is healthyR.data?
From a bundled hospital dataset to a live CMS API client.
healthyR.data supplies the data layer for the healthyverse packages. It began by shipping hospital data inside the package and now fetches from CMS and provider endpoints at call time through get_cms_meta_data(), fetch_cms_data(), and their provider counterparts. The most recent release is a single httr2 compatibility fix.
What is intsurv?
A Cox cure-rate model package woke up after four years to simplify its own interface.
intsurv fits Cox cure rate models for right-censored survival data where event status may be uncertain — the case where you cannot tell whether a subject experienced the event or was never susceptible to it. The core has been stable since 2019: cox_cure() and its regularized counterpart cox_cure_net(), plus a weighted concordance index and a data simulator. After more than four years without a release, version 0.3.0 arrived in September 2025 and restructured how those two functions are configured rather than adding capability.
healthyR.data vs intsurv: editorial side-by-side
healthyR.data
0.0ANALYTICS
From a bundled hospital dataset to a live CMS API client.
◆ Current state
healthyR.data supplies the data layer for the healthyverse packages. It began by shipping hospital data inside the package and now fetches from CMS and provider endpoints at call time through get_cms_meta_data(), fetch_cms_data(), and their provider counterparts. The most recent release is a single httr2 compatibility fix.
◆ Where it's heading
The 2023 release added roughly twenty current_*_data() accessors, one per CMS measure file - a wide but static surface. The 2024 releases replaced that approach with metadata lookup plus generic fetchers, then taught the fetchers to handle CSV, Excel, and ZIP payloads rather than API responses alone. The package's weight has moved from what it ships to what it can retrieve.
◆ Prediction
With the fetch layer generalised, the next visible work is more likely record-limit and error handling around httr2 than further per-measure accessors.
intsurv
0.0ANALYTICS
A Cox cure-rate model package woke up after four years to simplify its own interface.
◆ Current state
intsurv fits Cox cure rate models for right-censored survival data where event status may be uncertain — the case where you cannot tell whether a subject experienced the event or was never susceptible to it. The core has been stable since 2019: cox_cure() and its regularized counterpart cox_cure_net(), plus a weighted concordance index and a data simulator. After more than four years without a release, version 0.3.0 arrived in September 2025 and restructured how those two functions are configured rather than adding capability.
◆ Where it's heading
The package has reached the point where the methods are settled and the remaining work is ergonomics. Moving control parameters, M-step settings and penalty specification into cox_cure.control(), cox_cure.mstep() and cox_cure_net.penalty() follows the established R convention of separating tuning from the model formula, and it arrives long after the arguments accumulated. The C++ headers were placed in inst/include as early as 2019 so other packages could link against them, which suggests the implementation was always intended to be reused.
◆ Prediction
The gap between 0.2.2 and 0.3.0 makes cadence a poor basis for prediction. What the entries do support is that the interface rework is unfinished business rather than a prelude to new methods, so consolidation around the new helper functions is the likelier next step.
Alternatives to healthyR.data and intsurv
Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either healthyR.data or intsurv.
lavaanExtra
SEM reporting helpers converging on APA output, one CRAN resubmission at a time.
ibis.iSDM
A raster-to-terra migration is the only readable change in a feed of merge notes.
anyflights
A nycflights13 generator whose recent work is all about the data being right.
vinereg
Conditional density and log-likelihood fill out a vine copula regression package.
stringx
A drop-in string API for base R, kept alive by upstream check failures.
See all healthyR.data alternatives → · See all intsurv alternatives →
Recent activity from healthyR.data and intsurv
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 10mo agointsurvModel configuration moves into dedicated control functions
- 1y agohealthyR.datahttr2 compatibility fix
- 2y agohealthyR.dataFetchers handle CSV, Excel, and ZIP, with a record limit
- 2y agohealthyR.dataMetadata lookup and generic CMS fetchers replace bundled data ⚡
- 3y agohealthyR.dataTwenty CMS measure accessors added
- 3y agohealthyR.datacli, crayon, and rstudioapi dependencies dropped
- 5y agohealthyR.dataxz compression added to meet CRAN size policy
- 5y agointsurvCross-validated model selection and offset terms added
- 6y agointsurvC++ headers relocated so other packages can link them
- 7y agointsurvCox cure models for uncertain event status arrive
- 7y agointsurvParameter initialization methods added to the alpha
- 7y agointsurvAlpha cut for paper submission and simulation reproducibility
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between healthyR.data and intsurv?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. healthyR.data and intsurv are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is healthyR.data better than intsurv?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. healthyR.data and intsurv are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to healthyR.data?
Top healthyR.data alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "healthyR.data alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/healthyr-data for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to intsurv?
Top intsurv alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "intsurv alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/intsurv for the full list with editorial commentary on each.