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Data Analytics

For many states, a critical barrier to achieving Medicaid delivery system reform is data analytic capacity. Within the functional area of data analytics, the Medicaid Innovation Accelerator Program (IAP) seeks to offer targeted technical support and solutions to Medicaid agencies in building and strengthening their data analytic capacity as they design and implement delivery system reforms. In addition, IAP seeks to develop standard solutions using common data sets for states’ use in delivering improved care and driving smarter spending.

Data Analytics Technical Support

To assist Medicaid agencies in moving towards their Medicaid delivery system reform goals, IAP is offering targeted technical support to states around a variety of data analytic activities. Selected states are assigned a dedicated IAP Data Analytic (DA) team that provides customized one-on-one data analytics support in one or more of the following areas:

  • Designing an analytic strategy
  • Improving programmatic decision-making
  • Building and executing statistical models
  • Planning and implementing non-Medicare data integration
  • Developing transfer protocols for sharing data

Starting in April 2017, selected states and territories Alabama, Guam, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Pennsylvania, Washington, and West Virginia participated in the support opportunity for a 12 month period. Learn more about the participating states and their IAP work (PDF, 162.34 KB) .

Starting in May 2018, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Northern Mariana Islands, and South Dakota were selected to receive data analytics technical support for a 12 month period. Review the Data Analytics Program Overview (PDF, 595.52 KB)  and Information Session Slides (PDF, 1.64 MB) .

Starting in April 2019, Georgia, Oklahoma, Virgin Islands, Virginia, and West Virginia were selected to receive data analytics technical support for a six month period. Review the Data Analytics Technical Support Program Overview (PDF, 342.8 KB)  and Information Session Slides (PDF, 1.68 MB) .

Starting in March 2020, IAP is offering technical assistance to Medicaid agencies in Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Virginia, and West Virginia for a six month period. Review the Technical Assistance Program Overview (PDF, 157.22 KB)  and Information Session Slides (PDF, 929.89 KB) .

Medicare-Medicaid Data Integration (MMDI) Technical Support

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recognizes that existing Medicare-Medicaid enrollee data collection and reporting systems are fragmented, making it difficult for states to coordinate care at time of delivery, or to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of new programs for dually- eligible beneficiaries.

Under MMDI, IAP worked with five states (Alabama, District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New Jersey) from October 2015 - March 2019 providing one-on-one technical support to address the overarching challenge of acquiring and successfully integrating Medicare and Medicaid data from multiple sources. Selected states were assigned a dedicated state team lead supported by a team of experts, programmers, and analysts. 

In addition to the one-on-one technical support, IAP MMDI developed use cases and webinars for participating states on Medicare and Medicaid data integration topics such as:

Data Analytics Tool Development

IAP is developing a series of toolkits related to the four IAP program areas, as well as maternal and infant health. The goal of these toolkits is to provide transparent, straightforward, and adaptable data analytic solutions that states can easily implement in their local environments. Primarily the toolkits will assist states with: 

  • Population identification
  • Assessing the care provided

All of these IAP data analytic tools will be mapped to T-MSIS. These tools also signal our ongoing effort to maximize the resources we share with states; as states submit their data to CMS, we will dedicate ongoing resources to making data usable for analytic purposes.

To learn more about Medicaid’s Data and Systems work, including T-MSIS, please visit this webpage.

National Dissemination

In addition to the one-on-one technical support, use cases, tools, and webinars will be developed to share solutions and information on issues that impact all states, such as improving data visualization and imputing missing sociodemographic information for research purposes.

States interested in future IAP Data Analytic support opportunities should continue to check the webpage as well as send questions via e-mail with the subject line "Data Analytics" to the IAP mailbox: MedicaidIAP@cms.hhs.gov.