VA Information Resource Center
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 .
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
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.
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Reviewed/Updated Date:
August 5, 2008
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