Article by Kathy Talkington: “…Before the advent of vaccines, antibiotics, and modern sanitation, infectious diseases were the leading killers. But today, chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and asthma account for 70% of deaths and 86% of health care expenses in the United States. Yet the clinical data that doctors must report is still largely restricted to infectious diseases.
So, if doctors aren’t required to report chronic disease data and cannot feasibly do so, where can public health agencies turn? One major source is insurance providers. They collect information daily on the types of illnesses that patients have, the treatments being recommended, and the medications being prescribed. Insurance providers use this data to determine reimbursement rates, assess the quality of care, and guide treatment, but public health agencies do not have ready access to this information.
To help overcome this gap, The Pew Charitable Trusts recently launched a project to build data-driven partnerships between state public health agencies and their Medicaid counterparts. Why Medicaid? First, as the nation’s largest single payer, it can provide public health agencies with a large pool of claims data. Second, Medicaid serves people who would benefit most by more effective public health programs, including families with low incomes, people with disabilities, and older adults. And, lastly, Medicaid influences the practices of two critical constituencies: private insurers that contract with Medicaid and the 70% of doctors who accept Medicaid payments…(More)”.
