HCCI Adds Blue Cross Blue Shield Claims Data to National Database
The new agreement adds Blue Cross Blue Shield claims information to a national database for analyzing healthcare costs.
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By - The Health Care Cost Institute and Blue Health Intelligence, a data division of Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, have struck a multiyear data partnership that will see the latter’s medical claims information expanding the former’s national database.
Through its existing partnerships with Aetna, Human, and Kaiser Permanente, HCCI has amassed data on 50 million commercially insured individuals each year. HCCI and United Healthcare announced the end of their data-sharing agreement earlier this year, though data from the partnership will remain part of the HCCI database until the end of 2022.
Additionally, as a qualified entity — that is, a participant in the Medicare Data Sharing for Performance Measurement Program — the independent, non-profit research institute contains complete access to Medicare fee-for-service claim data on an estimated 40 million individuals per year. Information in its database is de-identified to secure privacy for providers, payers, and patients.
"HCCI is a critical national resource," said HCCI President & CEO Niall Brennan. "This new partnership with BHI, allied with ongoing support from our legacy partners, guarantees the continued availability of an accessible, trusted resource to better understand and ultimately rein in US health care costs. We are excited to embark on this new partnership with BHI and commend them for their leadership and commitment to transparency."
The partnership now means that data from 36 independent Blues across the country will be integrated into the national database and contribute to research on healthcare costs and spending. According to the announcement, Blue Health Intelligence holds medical and pharmacy claims data on more than 190 million Americans.
"We are thrilled to expand the Blue Cross and Blue Shield System's longstanding commitment to bring greater transparency to health care by offering HCCI access to the deep insights that BHI's data provides," added Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Bob Kolodgy, who also serves on the board of BHI.
"By adding our conformed and secure data to HCCI's existing repository by the end of this year, BHI welcomes the chance to increase opportunities to advance health care cost and quality solutions for all Americans," said BHI CEO Swati Abbott.
As a data-advocacy organization, HCCI has been vocal in the national dialogue on healthcare price transparency as White House, Congress, and state legislators debate solutions to surprise billing and escalating care costs.
The inclusion of new data should prove a boon to researchers.
"HCCI data has become an indispensable source of insight for the nation's leading academic institutions, such as Harvard, Cornell, and Yale, as well as blue-ribbon health care analytic organizations, including the Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Trade Commission and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary," said HCCI's Governing Board Chair Robert J. Town, PhD. "The continued availability and expansion of this data source will allow us to continue to better understand health system performance."
