ACUMEN LLC — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This STTR application requests funding to expand the

Description

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This STTR application requests funding to expand the capabilities of Acumen LLC's Medicare/Medicaid Research Information Center (MedRIC). To advance the quality of the data available for public policy research, MedRIC facilitates the acquisition of data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to participants of surveys and registries sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA). By linking administrative and survey data into a cohesive structure,Acumen will significantly reduce the financial and time costs that researchers currently bear to acquire and use CMS administrative data. Although MedRIC has already linked NIA survey data to Medicare enrollment and claims files, this project will augmentthese efforts to include linkages to Medicaid claims databases. By successfully expanding MedRIC's capabilities, this project will significantly reduce the burden that researchers and policy analysts face as they investigate health care utilization, quality, and expenditure patterns among low- income individuals, children, and pregnant women. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: To promote more effective public policy research on patients with limited income and resources, this project will create new data resources linking NIH survey data with Medicaid claims files. This integration will not only provide researchers higher quality information, but will also reduce the cost for NIH-funded researchers to access and use this linked data.