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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
 

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Q. How can the Medicare claims be linked to other data?

A. The VA-Medicare data include real SSN or the VA's scrambled SSN (SCRSSN) on each claim and enrollment record.  These identifiers can be used to link Medicare claims and enrollment records to each other, to VA data, or to non-VA data.

Q. What is the cost of obtaining the VA-Medicare data from VIReC?

A. VIReC provides VA-Medicare data to VA researchers at no charge.

Q. What is the difference between the Vital Status file and the Denominator file?

Issues

Vital Status

Denominator

Population

Ever enrolled in Medicare

Enrolled in Medicare in the calendar year

Enrollment data

No

Yes

Time period

Cumulative; updates are obtained from CMS annually

One per Calendar Year

Death dates and

Place of residence

Updated annually

Currently as of 11/30/04

As of March of the following calendar year (e.g., 2000 Denominator will contain death dates and residence as of March 2001)

Q. What is the difference between the MedPAR file and the Inpatient and SNF SAFs?

Difference

MedPAR

Inpatient SAF

SNF SAF

Contains claims for

Inpatient and Skilled Nursing Facilities

Inpatient Facilities

Skilled Nursing Facilities

File structure

Stay level (one stay record may summarize several claims)

Claim level

Benefits/limitations

• Smaller file size

• Stay level summaries in one record

• Department level charges

• Limited to 10 ICD-9 diagnosis codes per stay

• Limited to 6 ICD-9 procedure codes per stay

• Larger file size

• Must combine claims to obtain stay-level summaries

• Revenue center level charges

10 ICD-9 diagnosis codes per claim; unlimited claims per stay

• 6 ICD-9 procedure codes per claim; unlimited claims per stay

• Contains physician information

• Contains HCPCS

 

ResDAC also explains the differences: http://www.resdac.umn.edu/medicare/medicareFAQ.asp.

Q. When will more Medicare files be available from VIReC?

Files for a calendar year are normally available to VA researchers 18 months after the end of the calendar year.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) usually makes Medicare claims files available 8 months after the close of the calendar year. The VA Office of the Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Health Medicare Analysis Center (MAC) provides a finder file of SSNs to CMS when the data are available, and usually begins receiving the data from CMS three months later. MAC then forwards the Medicare data to VIReC, and VIReC builds the files for research. After VIReC performs data quality checks, the files are made available to researchers.