Creating Research Files from CMS Data for Integration with Survey Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This STTR proposal to the National Institute on Aging (NIA) requests funding to expand the capabilities of the Medicare Research Information Center (MedRIC) recently established by Acumen, LLC with support from NIA. Thepurpose of MedRIC is to facilitate the acquisition and linking of data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to participants of surveys and registries sponsored by NIA and other related federal agencies, and to advance the use of thesedata for research and public policy. By expanding MedRIC's capabilities, Acumen will vastly reduce the financial and time costs that researchers must currently bear to acquire and use CMS administrative data. To date, MedRIC's activities have already linked Medicare enrollment and claims files to NIA surveys and registries. The aim of this STTR project is to expand the scope of the project to include the national assessment records for nursing home residents in the Long-term Care Minimum Data Set (MDS) andfor home health patients in the Outcomes and Assessment Instrument Set (OASIS). By successfully expanding MedRIC's capabilities, this project will vastly relieve the burden that researchers and policy analysts currently face as they investigate health care utilization, quality, and expenditure patterns for nursing home and home health patients. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: To promote more effective public policy research on patients receiving home health and nursing home care, this project will create new data resources linking NIH survey data with Medicare patient assessment files. This integration will not only provide researchers higher quality information, but will also reduce the cost for NIH-funded researchers to access and use this linked data.