A dummy table is a planning tool that approximates data structure. They serve as a practical method of organizing thoughts and expectations before working with data. For analysts, it can take many forms, such as a dataset, a summary table, or even visual chart formats. It can even be an empty…
Medicare beneficiaries may enroll in a private managed care plan (Medicare Advantage (MA)) or in Fee-for-Service (FFS) Medicare (Original Medicare). The Master Beneficiary Summary File (MBSF) includes all beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare for at least one day of the year and contains…
Provider IDs are state-reported variables, meaning that states can include their own provider numbers when submitting records to T-MSIS. In the TAF data, these numbers are delineated by variables with a specific Provider ID suffix.
The TAF Pharmacy files (TAF RX) are a CMS Research Identifiable File (RIF) that contains pharmacy prescription fill and over the counter (OTC) drug information covered by Medicaid. They are sourced from the T-MSIS, which is a repository of service utilization and reimbursement records…
Professional and technical components are HCPCS modifiers that splits Medicare payment into supervision/interpretative and equipment/facility costs. This allows separate entities to bill for their portion of a service.
CMS creates Research Identifiable Files (RIFs) for Encounters and Part D Events by compiling data sent from various Part C (Medicare Advantage) and Part D plan sponsors.
The combination of PROC FORMAT and PROC FREQ can be used to quickly identify missingness, or values that are invalid or not present, in data. Straightforward logic and low line count make this code digestible for both new and experienced SAS programmers.
Meeting an error screen is inevitable for programmers. While there is plenty of information on how to solve your coding and analytic problems, there isn’t as much information on how to prevent them. In this blog post, I’d like to offer an argument for using data dictionaries to prevent basic…
Changes in coverage and claim submission requirements can have significant impact on claims research data. Understanding how upstream policies impact downstream data can protect researchers from over-purchasing data for their project.
Institutional providers, such as inpatient facilities, are required to report clinical trial information through the Claim Value Code and Claim Value Amount variables. However, Claim Value Codes were created to report monetary conditions related to claims. This means that Claim Value Amount is…