As of June 2020, the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) contained nearly 920 million claims for approximately 65 percent of insured individuals in Colorado with medical coverage, reflecting over 3.4 million lives.When those with dental and pharmacy coverage are added, the CO APCD spans 4.5 million unique lives Read more…
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, comprehending the potential combinations of data elements from over 800 million claims is nearly impossible. However, the scale Read more…
At Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC), we often get asked how the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) differs from other APCDs across the nation. And the answer is that it differs quite a bit depending on which APCD you’re comparing it to. When it comes Read more…
So, you’ve decided that you want to use data from the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) for your project. Brilliant! You’ve come to terms with the sheer magnitude of the database and narrowed down the mindboggling array of potential analyses and have honed in on the question(s) you Read more…
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 Read more…
Human nature is to use history to inform the future, to apply lessons learned to situations in order to more easily navigate them and avoid possible uncertainty. Unfortunately, this can lead to disappointment or frustration when events do not unfold in the anticipated ways. It works much the same way Read more…
The Ask the Analyst series is a deep dive into the data by those most familiar with the CO APCD – the analysts themselves. We’ll hear about their experiences with recent analyses and answer any pressing questions that come up. Have a question for the CIVHC Analyst Team? Email it Read more…
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…
The Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) is a state-legislated, secure health care claims database compliant with all federal privacy laws. The complexity and scale of the database continually grows with millions of claims submitted by payers each month, reflecting over 4.5 million lives. It contains nearly 920 million Read more…
Approaching the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) to get answers to even the simplest of questions can feel daunting. How do you begin to craft a question when the entity you’re querying contains billions of data elements stored in 1s and 0s in cyberspace somewhere? How do you Read more…