What's New
Check back here for the latest information on Medicare and Medicaid data for health services research.
Upcoming Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative webinar series
These webinars provide information about understanding and working with the Limited Data Sets being provided for the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative. They are targeted at data analysts, data custodians, or other parties interested in learning about the structure and contents of these files.
2010 MCBS Access to Care data now available
Researchers can now request the 2010 MCBS Access to Care data. For information about requesting MCBS data for a new or existing study, please visit: http://www.resdac.org/Medicare/requesting_data.asp
ALERT: ResDAC e-mail down on Tuesday 1/24 & Wednesday 1/25
Please note that due to a server change yesterday, ResDAC experienced issues with receiving e-mails. If you sent an e-mail to resdac@umn.edu on Tuesday 1/24/12 or Wednesday 1/25/12, please resend the message to ensure we have received it.
Qualified Entity Program Online Application Opens January 9th
Affordable Care Act Section 10332 – Availability of Medicare Data for Performance Measurement – amended Section 1874(e) of the Social Security Act to enable the creation of the Qualified Entity Program. To be eligible to participate in the program, an applicant (either itself or through contracts with other entities) will need to have experience in a variety of tasks related to the calculation and reporting of performance measures, including combining claims data from different payers, designing performance reports, sharing performance reports with the public, working with providers and suppliers regarding requests for error correction, and ensuring the privacy and security of data. Applicants will also need to have access to claims data from other sources to combine with the Medicare data in the evaluation of providers and suppliers. They will also need strong systems to ensure the data is secure and protected. Qualified entities are only permitted to use the data to generate performance reports for providers of services and suppliers on measures of quality, efficiency, effectiveness, and resource use. Qualified entities are required to make the performance reports available publicly after providers and suppliers are given an opportunity to review and correct the data. Uses of Medicare data other than for the generation of performance reports is strictly prohibited by the statute.
Organizations interested in applying to the Qualified Entity Certification Program for Medicare Data are encouraged to visit www.resdac.org/qemedicaredata.asp for more information. Applications will be accepted beginning January 9. There is no deadline for submitting applications for certification as a Qualified Entity. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.
SAVE THE DATE: CMS 106 Part D Data Workshop in Minneapolis, MN, May 8th & 9th
This workshop will familiarize the audience with the Medicare Part D program, the use of the Medicare Beneficiary Part D enrollment data, Part D Event data, and associated Part D Characteristic files for research. The course will cover an overview of the origin of the Part D Event data files, data quality, and research applications of the Medicare Part D data.
Further workshop details available here.
2007 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey - Administrative Data (RIC A) Update to Cost and Use File
(Note: This only impacts 2007 MCBS – Cost and Use file data purchases made/fulfilled prior to October 2011.)
CMS recently became aware of a data issue in RIC A (Administrative Identification) of the 2007 Cost & Use file. This issue was brought to our attention by a researcher who was reviewing mortality rates in the Part D Medicare population. After further investigation, MCBS staff has determined that survey participants (SPs) in the 2007 file who died in the first six months of CY 2007 were erroneously deleted from Part D entitlement data used to create the RIC A. One obvious result of this error, identified by the MCBS researcher, is an underreporting of death (mortality rate) for persons with Part D coverage. Actual Part D enrollment counts will also be underreported.
CMS has since corrected Part D entitlement data to produce an updated version of RIC A for the Cost and Use 2007 file. The only fields impacted by this error were the “h_pdtp01---h_pdtp12” variables. All other RICs included in your original delivery of the Cost ’07 file should be unaffected by this data issue. Any MCBS data user, with an active DUA that purchased and received 2007 Cost & Use data prior to October 2011, should have received a updated RIC A data file at this time.
ALERT: FY10 LDS MedPAR proposed rule file POA Indicator
CMS systems have been transitioning to a format that accommodates ICD-10 codes as well as ‘E’ codes, both in greater occurrences. In the process of creating the December 2010 update of the FY2010 MedPAR, claims were converted to the new format and then reconverted to the older format. In that conversion process, POA codes associated with additional E codes carried on the newer format populated the 10th position of the POA string in some records.
For research purposes, values in the 10th position of the POA string should be disregarded.
Data ALERT: anomaly in the 2010 PSPS file.
A number of users have questioned the values found in the Error Indicator column of the Physician Supplier Procedure Summary (PSPS) 2010 file. It was discovered in the source system that this column was always populated with a "4" during a period of approximately 6 months in 2011, when 2010 claims were still being processed.
This anomaly caused an increased number of records in the 2010 PSPS file based on how the file is aggregated. However, the data in this file matches source system data, and columns other than the Error Indicator column can be used for analysis. Click here for more information on this data anomaly.
State requests for CMS Part D data for Care Coordination for Dual Eligible Beneficiaries
As described in the October 3, 2008 State Medicaid Letter, States have been able to request “final action” (i.e., not subject to subsequent adjustment) Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Event (PDE) data since 2008. CMS is now permitting States to request more timely non-final action Medicare Part D PDE data, specifically for care coordination activities that have the potential to improve care for dual eligible beneficiaries at the individual level.
State Medicaid Agencies are eligible to request these data for care coordination purposes for the full benefit dual eligible beneficiaries. Care coordination purposes means uses of the data (e.g., analysis, monitoring, or feedback) to support interventions—or the development of such interventions—at the individual dual eligible beneficiary level that have the potential to improve the care of dual eligible beneficiaries.
More details on the data available as well as the request process can be found here.
LDS 2009 Part A claims and POA indicator
CMS investigated a reported POA / e-code data error discovered during 4010 / 5010 conversion. Its research indicated that e-codes (special ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes generally used to report accidents, injuries or diseases) were relocated on the formatted claim and subsequently caused a misalignment with the associated POA code. The error was confirmed and the claims were subsequently corrected (the CCW received replacement claims).
All of the 2009 Part A LDS claims files were re-created to account for the replacement claims. While inpatient claims had the majority of the replacement claims with hospital-acquired condition (HAC) attributes, the other Part A claim types also had replacement claims to some extent.
CMS will be reissuing the 2009 LDS claims files to all individuals that have requested the LDS Date file because this POA / e-code issue impacted the ability to link the LDS Date file to the claims. Even though the DESY SORT KEY did not change, the Claim # did, because it is assigned sequentially. The updated claims files are needed in order to link to the LDS Date files.
Individuals who received the 2009 LDS Part A files can request the corrected data as long as the research for which the data was requested supports the need for the POA indicator. Requests to receive corrected 2009 LDS Part A claims can be e-mailed to datauseagreements@cms.hhs.gov. Please include your LDS DUA number, the files for which you are requesting replacements, and a brief explanation for how your original study supports the need for the POA indicator.
Data Privacy Safeguard Program for Identifiable Data Users Update
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seeks to ensure the protection of CMS data that are disclosed to external organizations for research purposes. To accomplish this, CMS has developed the Data Privacy Safeguard Program (DPSP). The DPSP reflects the Agency’s priorities to both improve data stewardship and to protect the privacy and security of CMS’ research identifiable files (RIF) that are made available for conducting important research studies.
The DPSP consists of two main components, the first being a revised Data Management Plan. The revised Data Management Plan is part of the Executive Summary. The revised Executive Summary will take effect with all data requests that are received by ResDAC after July 1, 2011. The second component of the DPSP is for CMS to conduct a number of ongoing remote and on-site reviews. External organizations that are selected for reviews will be notified in advance. Selection of sites for review will be based on such factors as the scope and use of the data as described in the Data Management Plan.
Please review the FAQ document for additional information about the program.
What's New - Archived Info
Important changes to 2008 LDS Standard Analytical Files
State requests for CMS Part D data for Care Coordination for Dual Eligible Beneficiaries
LDS 2009 Part A claims and POA indicator
Data Privacy Safeguard Program for Identifiable Data Users Update
Last Modified February 21, 2012