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VA-Medicare Data Initiative Overview
 

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The VA-Medicare Data Merge Initiative was sponsored by the VA Under Secretary for Health and Health Services Research and Development Service (HSR&D) to provide access to Medicare data for VA researchers through VIReC. The Initiative also provides access to the data for non-researchers in the VA through the Office of the Assistant Under Secretary for Health. In September 2003, VIReC prepared and submitted its report (USH Report), entitled Research Findings From The VA-Medicare Data Merge Initiative: Veterans' Enrollment, Access and Use of Medicare and VA Health Services (XVA 69-001), to the Under Secretary PDF file .

In July 2002, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was signed allowing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to share Medicare claims data with the VA for program administration and operational purposes. VIReC developed an infrastructure to support requests for Medicare data from VA researchers and created SAS datasets with linkages between Medicare claims data and VA healthcare utilization data. VIReC also identified field experts to assist with refinement of this process. A Technical Advisory Board and a Data Request Review Board were established to monitor the technical aspects of managing the Medicare data and to review investigator requests. Examples of VA research using the VA-Medicare data can be found in VIReC Insights Vol.4, No.3 PDF file  

VIReC's Goals

  • Acquire, merge and centrally warehouse VA and Medicare data;
  • Establish standardized data request and review policies;
  • Create linked VA-Medicare summary files to enable efficient data processing for research;
  • Provide ongoing documentation and dissemination of updated VA and Medicare data merges;
  • Coordinate annual Medicare data requests with VHA Office of Policy and Planning; and
  • Collaborate with the Research Data Assistance Center (ResDAC) on education and training.