Prescription drug spending is a leading contributor to rising health care costs across the United States. Increasingly, consumers, medical professionals, insurers, legislators, and other stakeholders are identifying rising prescription drug costs as a priority to address health care spending. According to a study released earlier this year, three in four Read more
CIVHC’s Affordability Dashboard has an updated Low Value Care analysis which identifies health care services that are often costly, do not improve health, and can in some instances cause harm. The analysis, which evaluated 48 potentially low value services — including certain treatments, diagnostic tests, and screenings — found that Read more
Outpatient services continues to be one of the biggest health care cost drivers Health care costs in Colorado and across the nation are increasing at a rapid pace, continuing to make care unaffordable for many people. A key to addressing health care affordability is understanding where health care dollars are Read more
As Administrator of the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD), one of CIVHC’s key responsibilities is ensuring the database is as complete and accurate as possible. One of the ways we work towards this goal is through annual updates to the Data Submission Guide (DSG) in collaboration with the Read more
In January 2022, CIVHC release an update to the Shop for Care tool. The tool empowers users to shop for the most affordable and highest quality care by comparing cost and quality information for over 100 procedures at over 53 named facilities across Colorado using data in the Colorado All Read more
CIVHC’s Community Dashboard is a powerful tool that provides Colorado communities with information to understand how various aspects of health care in their region — including costs, utilization, and access — compare to state and other county results. Including claims from a majority of the insured lives represented in the Read more
This is the fourth in a series of blogs about what exactly is in the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD). Today we’re looking at one of the most fundamental claims we receive – the pharmacy claim. Pharmacy claims include basic information about what drug(s) you received, the type Read more
At Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC), we often get asked how the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) differs from other APCDs across the nation. And the answer is that it differs quite a bit depending on which APCD you’re comparing it to. When it comes Read more
So, you’ve decided that you want to use data from the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) for your project. Brilliant! You’ve come to terms with the sheer magnitude of the database and narrowed down the mindboggling array of potential analyses and have honed in on the question(s) you Read more
Approaching the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) to get answers to even the simplest of questions can feel daunting. How do you begin to craft a question when the entity you’re querying contains billions of data elements stored in 1s and 0s in cyberspace somewhere? How do you Read more