Link Search Menu Expand Document
Data reporting @ Cronkite

Cronkite-Mayo Clinic data reporting

May 2018

Presentations

  • Powerpoint from class - Becoming a better watchdog
  • The AP’s Meghan Hoyer’s health care Datapalooza from the USC health care fellowship, 2017 (with permission). Her tip sheet on sources is made for California reporters, but it will give you a sense of what’s available elsewhere.

Data compilations

  • Look through ProPublica’s data store for some cleaned datasets and links to other government sources. Start with “Vital Signs” data lookup, then consider learning how to use its API.

  • The mother of all regulatory sites: reginfo.gov. Search to the “Information Collection” section. To reduce the number of results, use only “active” forms. (Video to come). While you’re there, check out the “Unified Agenda” for any agency you care about. This is the list of upcoming regulatory and deregulatory actions, created for lobbyists to know what to expect in the future.

  • healthdata.gov is supposed to be a compilation of all HHS datasets. Look at them by component for the easiest navigation.

CMS datasets

(HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)

CMS’s data sources are confusing. They could be found in cms.gov, medicare.gov or medicaid.gov.

Standard provider level datasets

  • Medicare utilization public use files
  • Medicare consumer-oriented datasets on quality and selected utilization at https://data.medicare.gov/data
  • openpayments: Drug company and device payments to providers
  • Cost reports for Medicare-eligible institutions, including hospitals, nursing homes, renal clinics, home health care, and hospice. These are the reports that show whether they are making and spending enough to provide care. It includes general financial information on all of the institutions’ activity, not just Medicare patients.

Drug price and utilization CMS drug spending has average prices paid in Medicare Part D, Part B and Medicaid. It also has the most recent year total spending. data.medicaid.gov has more details on drug utilization.

Washington Post Opioid data : Prescriptions for opioids from 2006 to 2012, released as part of a lawsuit. Another option is to check with your AP representative about access to its compilation on data.world (a great source if you don’t have it already), available to members.

Nursing homes