Medicare Blog

what data is in medicare claims data

by Lisette Wolf Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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Medicare data included a number of analytic files containing FFS claims organized into files by type of care, such as carrier files (also known as the Physician/Supplier Part B claims files), outpatient files, as well as denominator files (with information on eligibility and enrollment).

Full Answer

How to check Medicare claims submitted?

Within each care setting, 3 types of files are generally available: (1) files with data that can allow individual patients to be identified (“RIF” files); (2) limited dataset files, which contain patient-level data but with identifying characteristics stripped from the data (“LDS” files); and (3) non-identifiable data files, which contain aggregate data without any patient- or provider-level …

How to fill in Medicare claims?

Dec 01, 2021 · CMS is committed to increasing access to its Medicare claims data through the release of de-identified data files available for public use. These files are available to researchers as free downloads in CSV format. They contain non-identifiable claim-specific information and are within the public domain. Of paramount importance in the release of Public Use Files is the …

How do I make a Medicare claim?

Claims data, also known as administrative data, are another sort of electronic record, but on a much bigger scale. Claims databases collect information on millions of doctors’ appointments, bills, insurance information, and other patient-provider communications. The good thing about claims data is that, like other medical records, they come directly from notes made by the …

Do I need to file any claims with Medicare?

The Medicare claims data released by CMS is organized by an individual physician’s National Provider Identifier (NPI) and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System code. The data includes: Name, address, gender and specialty; Number and type of services provided; Number of Medicare patients treated; Average and standard deviation in charges; Allowed amount

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How many people are covered by Medicare?

The CMS administers Medicare, the nations’ largest health insurance program, which covers nearly 40 million Americans. Persons aged 65 years and older, some disabled people under age 65, and people with End-Stage Renal Disease are eligible for Medicare. Medicare has two parts, Part A and Part B.

Where to contact Medicare and Medicaid?

Additional questions related to Medicare claims data can be directed to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850; 877-267-2323.

Why is NCQA 92 used?

This is because Medicaid data are based on paid claims and not all encounters.

What is NATC surveillance?

The NATC Surveillance module includes a discussion of standard demographic breakdowns that should be used when analyzing asthma surveillance data. The applicability of these breakdowns to Medicare data are summarized below.

What is a provider analysis and review file?

The Medicare Provider Analysis and Review file contains records for Medicare beneficiaries who use hospital inpatient services. The records are stripped of most data elements that will permit identification of beneficiaries. The six-position Medicare billing number identifies the hospital.

What is a Part B?

Part B is supplemental medical coverage that requires an additional monthly fee. Part B covers doctors’ services, outpatient hospital care, and some other medical services (e.g., the services of physical and occupational therapists, and some home health care) that Part A does not cover.

Can Medicare data be representative of age 65?

However, even if this is done, Medicare data may not be representative of the broader state population aged 65 and older (see the “Anticipated Questions and Answers” section below).

Can other potentially identifying variables be removed from a file?

Moreover, other potentially identifying variables, which might cause identification by themselves or in combination with other variables, have either been removed from the files or their values re-coded.

Is Medicare claim data public domain?

These files are available to researchers as free downloads in CSV format. They contain non-identifiable claim-specific information and are within the public domain.

What is the denominator for each estimated rate?

The denominator for each estimated rate is the total number of beneficiaries in that demographic category who were fully enrolled in the Medicare Part B program for all 12 months during the year of observation.

What is an unspecified cataract?

Other or unspecified cataract. Other or unspecified cataract includes diagnosis codes for various cataracts not specified as age-related or congenital, including traumatic cataract, drug-induced cataract, cataract with neovascularization, cataract secondary to ocular disorders, or unspecified cataracts.

What is surgical complication?

Surgical complication. Surgical complication includes diagnosis codes indicating or typically associated with surgical complications, including postprocedural inflammation or infection, mechanical complications, cataract fragments, and other conditions usually associated with procedures.

What is a strabismus diagnosis?

Strabismus includes diagnosis codes indicating monocular or binocular strabismus, including esotropia, exotropia, heterophoria and other types, nerve palsy of the eye, ophthalmoplegia, Brown’s sheath syndrome, disorders of convergence or binocular movement, or other unspecified disorders of binocular vision. Amblyopia.

What is unqualified vision loss?

Unqualified vision loss in one eye, or unspecified visual loss. Unqualified vision loss in one eye or unspecified vision loss includes diagnosis codes indicating un qualified vision loss in one eye, unspecified visual loss, or problems with sight. Low vision or blindness, one eye.

What is optic nerve disorder?

Optic nerve disorders. Optic nerve disorders includes diagnosis codes indicating optic neuritis and other disorders of the optic nerve. Disorders of the visual pathway and visual cortex. Disorders of the visual pathway and visual cortex includes diagnosis codes indicating disorders of visual pathways and visual cortex.

What is Medicare claims data?

The Medicare claims data released by CMS is organized by an individual physician’s National Provider Identifier (NPI) and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System code. The data includes: Name, address, gender and specialty. Number and type of services provided. Number of Medicare patients treated. Average and standard deviation in charges.

What is CMS data?

Since 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has publicly released physician Medicare claims data that identifies individual physicians and outlines the costs and services provided to Medicare patients.

Why are some physicians missing data?

This is because some or all of their care was billed under their group practice’s NPI or because CMS excluded services performed for 10 or fewer Medicare beneficiaries to protect patient privacy. Billed charges and payments are not the same.

What does Medicare cover?

The money helps cover business expenses, such as rent, insurance, equipment, utilities and employee salaries. According to CMS’s Medicare Economic Index, those costs may make up about half of the payments. In many cases, they are even higher.

Is raw data released by CMS harmful?

However, releasing raw data, like that provided by CMS, can be potentially harmful.

Does Medicare pay for outpatient services?

To reflect a difference in the practice costs, Medicare pays physicians less for services provided in a hospital outpatient department than for services provided in their office. But Medicare makes another payment to the facility to cover its practice costs when services are provided in the outpatient department.

Does Medicare data account for patient mix?

The data set does not account for patient mix or demographics. Also, the information does not point out that a significant share of Medicare payments are used to cover costs, such as office overhead, employee salaries, supplies and equipment. Coding and billing rules differ over time and across regions.

Who can attest to Medicare?

Who can attest? Attestation must be performed by a Medicare Part D Plan (PDP) Sponsor CEO, CFO, or COO. An Attestor must hold an active CEO, CFO, or COO role within their organization. Part D Plan (PDP) sponsors can have multiple executives attest to each of their participating contracts.

What does AB2D do after a data operations specialist?

After the "AB2D Data Operations Specialist" has provided their IP addresses and verified synthetic data retrieval, the AB2D team will work directly with the Attestor (s) to provide their organization’s production credentials.

What is a sandbox?

The Sandbox is a test environment that enables anyone to interact with the AB2D API and retrieve synthetic Medicare Parts A and B claims data. A Part D Plan (PDP) sponsor “AB2D Data Operations Specialist” will need to verify they have retrieved synthetic claims data successfully in order to gain access to production data.

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Uses For Asthma Surveillance

  • Several questions can be addressed statewide using Medicaid Data: Q What are the annual rates of hospitalizations for asthma among Medicare recipients? Q How do rates of asthma hospitalizations vary by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and county among Medicare recipients? Q What are the annual rates of ED visits and office visits for asthma among Medicare Part B recipients? …
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History of Medicare Data Collection and Suggested Asthma Case Definitions

  • The CMS administers Medicare, the nations’ largest health insurance program, which covers nearly 40 million Americans. Persons aged 65 years and older, some disabled people under age 65, and people with End-Stage Renal Disease are eligible for Medicare. Medicare has two parts, Part A and Part B. Most people get Part A automatically when they turn age 65. They do not hav…
See more on cdc.gov

Source of Data

  • The Medicare Provider Analysis and Review file contains records for Medicare beneficiaries who use hospital inpatient services. The records are stripped of most data elements that will permit identification of beneficiaries. The six-position Medicare billing number identifies the hospital. These data can be obtained from the CMS web site at https:/...
See more on cdc.gov

Preparation of Data and Standard Methods For Rate Calculations

  • In order to enhance the comparability of asthma-related morbidity estimates between states, the following steps outline a standard process for preparing Medicare data for asthma surveillance purposes. 1. It is important to be sure that the criteria used to determine inclusion in the numerator is as similar as possible as the criteria used for assignment in the denominator. If Me…
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Analysis Standards

  • The NATC Surveillance module includes a discussion of standard demographic breakdowns that should be used when analyzing asthma surveillance data. The applicability of these breakdowns to Medicare data are summarized below. 1. Age Categories: After removing persons less than 65 from the data set, rates can be calculated by age for 5-year age intervals for groups aged 65 an…
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Anticipated Questions and Answers

  • Q Do Medicare asthma claims data accurately reflect the overall burden of asthma among persons > 65? A Nationally, 96% of persons aged 65 and older are enrolled in Medicare.3However, this varies considerably by age and race. Among whites, about 90% of the population aged 65-69 are enrolled in Medicare. Only 79% of Black s aged 65 to 70 are enrolled. Both of these percenta…
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