Free!! Publicly Available Data Resources

07/23/19 at 08:32 AM by Cordt Kassner

I was asked to pull together and present a webinar for the Home Care & Hospice Association of New Jersey on free, publicly available data resources. I want to share these resources with you, too! Please review the annotated resources below, and as always please contact me with any questions.

  1. CMS Hospice PUFs: https://www.cms.gov/research-statistics-data-and-systems/statistics-trends-and-reports/medicare-provider-charge-data/hospice.html. These Hospice Public Use Files from Medicare include tables summarizing information by provider and state. While perhaps a little dated (most current= 2016), they provide a wealth of comparative information for free.
  2. CMS Hospice Compare: https://www.medicare.gov/hospicecompare/. Quality measures from both the Hospice Item Set and Hospice CAHPS are available to be compared either using their online user interface (allowing you to compare 3 providers at a time) or a national download.
  3. CMS Cost Reports: https://www.cms.gov/research-statistics-data-and-systems/downloadable-public-use-files/cost-reports/. While everyone “loves to hate” the cost reports, they are the only resource available reporting hospice expenses and limited non-Medicare information. These files are downloaded as a “relational database” (think Access) and are a little tricky to put into a useable format, but they contain a lot of information that CMS is using more often now (e.g., they are comparing the cost to provide RHC and payments for it…).
  4. NHPCO Facts & Figures: https://www.nhpco.org/research/. This is a helpful annual overview of hospice in the country.
  5. US Census: https://www.census.gov/data.html. The American Fact Finder and QuickFacts are intuitive user interfaces summarizing census information. Of course, you can download the spreadsheets here, too!
  6. Veteran Data: https://www.va.gov/vetdata/. This site includes veteran population, state summaries, and more.
  7. Regulatory Reports: Standard regulatory reports include many hints regarding what CMS and the OIG are thinking about. You read them for regulatory guidance, but also consider them as research data tools, too:
    1. CMS Final Hospice Rule: https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2018-16539.pdf
    2. MedPAC Report to Congress: http://www.medpac.gov/docs/default-source/reports/mar19_medpac_entirereport_sec_rev.pdf?sfvrsn=0.
    3. MedPAC Hospice Presentations: http://www.medpac.gov/docs/default-source/default-document-library/hospice_december2018_for-public.pdf?sfvrsn=0.
    4. MedPAC Data Book: http://medpac.gov/docs/default-source/data-book/jun19_databook_entirereport_sec.pdf?sfvrsn=0.
    5. OIG Reports:
      1. 2018 Hospice Vulnerabilities: https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-02-16-00570.pdf.
      2. 2019 Hospice Risks: https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-02-17-00020.pdf?utm_source=summary-page&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=OEI-02-17-00020-PDF.
      3. 2019 Hospice Safeguards: https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-02-17-00021.pdf?utm_source=summary-page&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=OEI-02-17-00021-PDF.

 

Cordt T. Kassner, PhD
CEO, Hospice Analytics

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