The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced changes to its “Meaningful Use” program, an initiative started in 2009 with the passage of the HITECH Act. This legislation originally aimed at increasing the adoption of electronic medical records (EHR) by providing nearly $36 billion worth of incentives to providers across the U.S. As...Read more

The Maine Health Management Coalition, a long-time, successful business coalition focused on healthcare cost and quality transparency, recently changed its name to the Healthcare Purchaser Alliance of Maine. The re-branded organization will provide a collective voice and buying power for purchasers to lower costs and drive better outcomes. Their transition reflects a growing trend in...Read more

The Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC), the independent regulatory agency nationally-recognized for its work to advance cost transparency, had a solution to address high spending on MRIs for low back pain. Trouble was, it was a solution for the wrong problem. MHCC proposed generating cost comparison data on MRIs facility fees, but physicians quickly pointed...Read more

In acting, it’s an Oscar. In baseball, it’s a home run. In the world of all-payer claims databases, the ability to successfully disseminate data across a broad pool of motivated, talented partners emerges as a particularly important and visible measure of success. Wide dissemination of large custom data sets requires a series of complex gears...Read more

Thinking about ways to capture additional federal dollars to fund your state’s health care data operations? Partnering with your state’s Medicaid department on an Advanced Planning Document (APD) request may be a route to consider. Here’s a few tips discussed in our recent webinar co-hosted with the Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC) and slide...Read more