The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Dec. 5 issued a final rule for the release and use of Medicare claims data to qualified entities to measure the performance of Medicare providers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Beginning in 2012, the ACA requires the Health and Human Services secretary to provide standardized extracts of Medicare Parts A, B and D claims data to qualified entities on request.
Among other changes to the proposed rule, CMS estimates the average cost for a qualified entity for the first year of the program is $40,000, down from $200,000 in the proposed rule. The estimate assumes 25 qualified entities will request data for an average 2.5 million beneficiaries.
The rule requires them to confidentially share measures, measurement methodologies and measure results with providers and suppliers at least 60 calendar days prior to making measurement results public, compared to 30 business days in the proposed rule. For more information, see the CMS Fact Sheet.
[ via AHA News Now ]
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