States interested in measuring total healthcare spending, primary care and behavioral health investment, and adoption of alternative payment models are increasingly looking for ways to capture this non-claims spending. For many, identifying a standardized national approach has been an important but elusive goal.

APCD and hospital discharge data collection follows standard insurance data transactions, with state exceptions. Adding demographic and social determinants of health fields to submission guides is not enough to yield useful data; programs must balance equity analysis with national standards.

This white paper highlights challenges and notable practices in data quality improvement and highlights the results and status of the first-ever Data Quality Forum Benchmarking Pilot Project and the dissemination of the APCD Common Data Layout (APCD-CDL ™).

Entitled "All-Payer Claims Database Development Manual: Establishing a Foundation for Health Care Transparency and Informed Decision Making," the manual is a first-of its-kind resource that provides states with detailed guidance on common data standards, collection, aggregation and analysis involved with establishing these databases.

Almost every state has some form of a hospital discharge data reporting system, maintained by a state or private Health Data Organization (HDO). These data systems capture all hospitalizations for every patient, regardless of insurance status or payer. As the demand for healthcare data increases, HDOs are seeking guidance on suitable standards for data release practices.

For states developing or revisiting all-payer claims database (APCD) legislation: an overview of the current landscape of APCD laws and their most critical features.

A summary of input from the Work Group Panel at the 2012 APCD Meeting, sharing lessons from states with established APCD analytic programs and NAHDO data on measures in use, for new and forming APCDs.

The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance to states that are planning to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) and/or Request for Information (RFI) for All-Payer Claims Database (APCD). The information in this paper was derived from the review of previously issued state RFPs and RFIs, and input collected through technical assistance, national workshops, and the Learning Network functions of the APCD Council.

In the context of the EMR, it is important to understand how existing data systems differ from newly emerging systems, and how existing systems were able to overcome many of the challenges facing those who will be engaged in EMR aggregation efforts.

A summary of the costs to states of developing All-Payer Claims Databases (APCDs), based on state vendor contracts (current and expired) and interviews with states that have implemented APCDs.

A California Health Care Foundation issue brief on federal and state efforts to “free the data”: making state health care claims data more widely available for evidence-based decisions, and how California would benefit.

Hospital readmissions are increasingly a matter of concern for policymakers, purchasers, and patients. Policy makers are exploring payment reform options to reduce deficits. Payment changes in Medicare and Medicaid are fast-tracking the measurement and scrutiny of hospital readmissions, though the issue is an all-payer one. Solutions must include health systems and communities working together, not in silos.

Information technology (IT) has the potential to transform healthcare as it has transformed many parts of our economy and society in recent decades. Properly implemented, health IT offer many solutions.

Public health agencies maintain numerous data bases to support their mandates to improve and promote the public’s health. Despite the rich sources of population health data, exchanging data resources across various agencies within a state is challenged by different laws governing each data set and the fragmentation of public health programs.

Each day new demands arise for more health information, whether those demands are from the public or private sector. Public health should make full use of all existing data resources to meet these new demands before looking to new data collections, given limited resources.