As states explore ways to manage rising health care costs, some of them are tracking those costs and inputting health care claims from public and private health care payers into a single repository.
The idea behind these “all-payer claims databases” (APCDs) is that greater information about payment can drive inefficiencies and help during payment negotiations. SAS is now targeting the states implementing these systems with new analytics software that can make the most of all of the data collected in these systems. The Cary company says its Claims Analytics for APCD can give all stakeholders in health care delivery and payment – including consumers – better health care cost comparison information.
The new SAS software comes as the health insurance exchanges formed under the Affordable Care Act become effective. These marketplaces are intended to give consumers a way to see and compare health insurance plans.
SAS is also betting that the demand for more health payment information will drive state development of APCDs. SAS says the software will allow officials to see how costs are dispersed throughout their entire state and more easily identify what is driving those costs. The software can also help officials spot trends that are related to specific diseases.
But so far, only a handful of states have implemented these databases. Just 10 states had existing all-payer claims databases as of May, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bipartisan non-governmental association that provides information to state legislative members and staffers. Another five were in the process of implementing them. North Carolina was listed among the states with no current APCD activity.
New Hampshire is one state that has moved ahead with an APCD and it will be using the new SAS software. The New Hampshire Institute of Health Policy and Practice (NHIHPP) at the University of New Hampshire was looking for software that offered an analysis of geographic and regional costs and quality.
“The ability to quickly explore health data will greatly improve health care policy decision making,” Josephine Porter, deputy director of NHIHPP said in a statement. “Our partner sites statewide will soon be able to easily access and visually display population, cost and utilization data. This will enable our project partners to interpret and discuss results much more effectively. This system also advances transparency by letting the public view analyses at state and regional levels.”
