Understanding Economic Variables using Medicare Data Files

This video is one segment in a series of videos from ResDAC’s Introduction to using Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) Data for Research.

Medicare billing and payment systems directly impact what is observable in claims data and how to interpret the fields. This presentation will provide background for researchers interested in charges and payments including:

• payment design for the major service types (inpatient, outpatient and physician services)
• considerations for calculating cost
• a brief overview of how newer bundled and value-based purchasing designs appear in the data
• ideas for measuring effectiveness