CMS Makes Medicare, Medicaid Data Easier For Researchers To Access

Researchers who want to study population health using the vast stores of Medicare and Medicaid data will no longer have to order it and wait for the federal government to ship them encrypted data files. Rather, they can now access the information virtually, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Tuesday.

Moving toward virtually accessible Medicare and Medicaid data is part of the Obama administration’s work to make the health care system more transparent and accountable — and to help meet the pressing challenge of health care delivery system reform, CMS officials said in a news release.

The launch of the CMS Virtual Research Data Center (VRDC) took place Oct. 12 at the White House event Data to Knowledge to Action: Building New Partnerships.