CMS To Allow Innovators Access To Claims Database
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
The move is designed to spur innovations to transform healthcare.
Acting CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt announced the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will be opening access to its voluminous federal healthcare data stores to entrepreneurs and other private-sector innovators – a move designed to spur innovation and effect transformation of healthcare. The new policy comes as part of the Administration’s “commitment to use of data and information to drive transformation of the healthcare delivery system.”
Slavitt made the announcement at Datapalooza, saying, “Today’s announcement is aimed directly at shaking up healthcare innovation and setting a new standard for data transparency. We expect a stream of new tools for beneficiaries and care providers that improve care and personalize decision-making.
“Data is the essential ingredient to building a better, smarter, healthier system.”
As part of the access, CMS will allow private entities to submit research requests beginning in September. Researchers will have to purchase subscriptions to the CMS Virtual Research Data Center, and will only be able to access the information for approved projects.
“We hope that this new policy will lead to additional innovation and insights from the CMS data,” expressed CMS Chief Data Officer Niall Brennan. Brennan also announced CMS would begin releasing quarterly, rather than annual, research data reports, in a move he called “groundbreaking.”
According to Healthcare IT News, the move is a sharp departure from the CMS’ longstanding policy of barring private-sector researchers from using CMS data for commercial reasons. Brennan explained, “Historically, CMS has prohibited researchers from accessing detailed CMS data if they intended to use it to develop products or tools to sell it. However, as the delivery system transforms from rewarding volume to value, data will play a key role.”