Overview
The CO APCD contains millions of claims across all health plans for multiple years. Health insurance payers submit data monthly and the entire database is refreshed every other month, so the CO ACPD is continually evolving and being enhanced.
Data Warehouse Refresh Resources
The CO APCD Data Warehouse is refreshed every other month, incorporating new years of data while also improving the quality of the existing data by implementing new business rules, adding previously missing files, or correcting concerns. The breakdown of paid-through dates by business line for the most recent refresh is available here.
The Release Notes for the most recent refresh is now available for download and provides important information regarding the length of time between the service date and paid date (‘claims lag’) for medical and pharmacy claims in the CO APCD. This analysis helps answer several key questions including how long it takes to achieve “completeness,” how lag time varies by payer type (commercial, Medicaid, etc), and by claim type (medical, pharmacy, inpatient, outpatient, etc).
The Data Discovery Log documents data quality items identified following file submission and processing, enhancement and loading of data into the CO APCD following each refresh of the warehouse.
Query: CO APCD Data Quality
The Query: CO APCD Data Quality series is designed to:
- explain the foundations of how CIVHC approaches data quality as administrator of the CO APCD,
- detail the processes and systems that bring the data into the warehouse, and
- define what steps are taken before data is released.
Contents of the CO APCD
Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorder Claims in the CO APCD
As of June 2023, the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) contained over 1 billion claims, representing over 5 million insured lives in Colorado, spanning from 2013-2022. Of these claims, there are over 65 million behavioral health claims contained in the CO APCD, representing over three million unique Coloradans Read more…
CO APCD
Commercial Data in the CO APCD
As of June 2023, the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) contained over 1 billion claims spanning 2013 through 2022. These claims were submitted by commercial health insurance plans, including Medicare Advantage, voluntarily submitted Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and mandated non-ERISA self-insured employer plans, Medicaid, and Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS). The CO Read more…
CO APCD
What to Expect with Claims Data
A previous query defined the different nuances encompassed under the term “data quality” to help shed light on the myriad factors that can impact the contents of an output from the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD). This piece will outline some baseline expectations for users who are new to claims Read more…
CO APCD
Defining Data Quality in the CO APCD
Claims data is very different than other types of data typically encountered by actuaries, accountants, analysts, and researchers. If not prepared for the unique challenges it presents, it is easy to conclude that something is wrong with a data set. The phrase “data quality” is frequently used as a catch-all Read more…
Blogs
What Information is in the CO APCD? Breaking Down Claims By Type
There is a staggering array of information in the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD). So much information that it can be difficult to keep track of the different types and their various combinations, much less their infinite applications. The CO APCD Insights Dashboard shows us that, as of Read more…
Blogs
The Submitter Quality Index
In the fall of 2022, Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC) implemented a new Submitter Quality Index (SQI), a benchmark step in CIVHC’s overall workplan to continually improve data completeness and accuracy. The SQI is a tool that helps CIVHC assess the quality of data submitted to the Read more…
Contents of the CO APCD
Changes to the CO APCD Rule and Data Submission Guide in 2023
As administrator of the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD), CIVHC is required by statute not only to maintain the database, but to continually improve the quality and utility of the CO APCD. One of the most essential activities to enhancement of the CO APCD is the annual updating Read more…
CO APCD
Data Submission, Intake, and Warehouse Refreshes
Each month health insurance payers submit millions of medical, professional, pharmacy, and dental claims for inclusion in the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD). Work to ensure that this data coming into the CO APCD is the most credible and highest quality begins before the files are sent. CIVHC Read more…
CO APCD
Medicare Data in the CO APCD
As of June 2022, the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) contained over 870 million claims spanning 2013 through 2021. These claims were submitted by commercial health insurance plans, including Medicare Advantage, voluntarily submitted Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and mandated non-ERISA self-insured employer plans, Medicaid, and Medicare Read more…
CO APCD
Medicaid Data in the CO APCD
As of June 2022, the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) contained over 870 million claims spanning 2013 through 2021. These claims were submitted by commercial health insurance plans, including Medicare Advantage, voluntarily submitted Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and mandated non-ERISA self-insured employer plans, Medicaid, and Medicare Read more…
Query: CO APCD Data Analytics
The Query: CO APCD Data Analytics series is designed to:
- provide insight into CIVHC's approach and philosophy of data analytics,
- outline the what is possible and what is not with the data, and
- demystify the process of CO APCD data release.
Analytics and Innovation
Limitations of CO APCD Data
With a resource the size of the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD), it is easy to presume that the possibilities for exploration are endless. In some senses, it is true that comprehending the potential combinations of data elements from over one billion claims is nearly impossible. However, the scale of Read more…
Analytics and Innovation
Rules Governing CO APCD Data Use
In 2010, the Colorado General Assembly saw the opportunities an immense repository of data such as the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) could afford – they also saw the possibilities for exploitation and built safeguards into the use of the CO APCD. When drafting the legislation that shaped the database, Read more…
Analytics and Innovation
Contents of The CO APCD and How Data Is Released
The CO APCD is a state-legislated, secure health care claims database compliant with all federal privacy and antitrust laws. It is the only claims repository in the state that represents the vast majority of insured lives in Colorado, with more than ten years of data from commercial health insurance payers, Read more…
Analytics and Innovation
Specialized Analytics in Public Reporting
The Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) contains medical, pharmacy, and dental claims from the majority of insured individuals in the state and collects non-claims data on additional components that impact individual health and cost of care. However, collecting all of this data is only the beginning for those Read more…
Analytics and Innovation
Geocoding the CO APCD and Health Equity Analytics
It is estimated that 80% of a person’s health outcomes are related to social factors outside of their control. These social determinants of health are the nonmedical factors that influence a person’s health, including the conditions in which they are born, live, work, and age. In 2021, CIVHC took a Read more…
Analytics and Innovation
Public Data Releases
CIVHC releases CO APCD data in two ways: non-public custom releases, licensed by Change Agents working on specific projects to improve care for Coloradans, or public data releases on civhc.org designed to foster decision-making at all levels of the health care system. Increasing access to transparent health care data for all Change Read more…
Analytics and Innovation
Data Element Request Form
Once someone has decided to use a non-public data set from the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD), it is crucial that they request the right information to answer their questions. While that sounds like a relatively straight-forward determination, in many cases it is not. The Data Element Request Read more…
Analytics and Innovation
Non-Public Release Application and Data Use Agreement
When requestors begin the process of accessing non-public data from the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD), CIVHC’s Health Data Solutions Consultants work closely with them to determine what data would meet their needs and what path the request will follow. Once the project goals are established, and they meet the Read more…
Analytics and Innovation
Non-Public Data Release Process
If the request meets all necessary criteria, non-public data from the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) is available to “state agencies and private entities in Colorado engaged in efforts to improve health care.” These requests are categorized by CIVHC as non-public, as the data will go to one person or organization, Read more…
Analytics and Innovation
HIPAA & Personal Health Information
Protecting health information is the highest priority for the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD). Colorado statute CRS 25.5-1-204 requires the CO APCD to “[p]rotect patient privacy in compliance with state and federal medical privacy laws while preserving the ability to analyze data and share with providers and payers Read more…