All but seven U.S. states have either passed or are working on legislation that would establish a state-sponsored, all-payer claims database – and that’s among the reasons these databases are in the spotlight for their promise to improve the way providers and insurance companies manage patient populations.
This year at the HIMSS16, in fact, John Freedman, MD, president of Freedman Healthcare, and Linda Greene, vice president of Freedman Healthcare, will lead a session intended to shed light on what APCDs are and where they’re headed in the future.
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APCDs as “large-scale databases that systematically collect medical claims, pharmacy claims, dental claims (typically, but not always) and eligibility and provider files from private and public payers,” said officials at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in a recent report. “States with APCDs are responding to a need for comprehensive, multi-payer data that allows states and other stakeholders to understand the cost, quality, and utilization of health care for their citizens.”
“While enormous attention is focused on EHRs and the health record data they contain – deservedly so – the other data world of claims data has been quietly creating applications for public health, price transparency, performance improvement, population health management and health services research,” Freedman said.
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Instances of all-payer claims databases, in fact, have tripled in the past decade.
“The impacts of APCDs on healthcare are just starting,” he continued, “and they will be profound.”
The session,“Implications of Expanding State All Payer Claims Databases,” will be held on March 3 from 1 - 1:30 p.m. in the Sands Expo Convention Center.
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This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.
