Iowa scraps plans to start outpatient data collection
Iowa health officials have all but abandoned an ambitious outpatient data collection project that was supposed to help the state’s providers and third-party payers improve access and better monitor the cost of ambulatory care. The Iowa Health Data Commission in Des Moines postponed the original July 1, 1996, implementation date for a year. But now, the future of the project will depend on whether the commission can find cost-effective ways of funding the effort.
The Des Moines-based Iowa Community Health Management Information System (CHMIS) halted the program when projected costs to providers and insurers for using the database escalated beyond a reasonable level, says Jeff M. Petrie, CHMIS’s chief operating officer.
The database would have been largely self-funded by users based on an anticipated surcharge of two to three cents per claim. The total cost of running the repository was projected at $1.7 million per year.
State officials postponed the effort when the surcharge to cover operating expenses mushroomed to 18 cents per claim. Similar efforts launched in states such as Florida and North Carolina were beset by concerns about patient confidentiality and data integrity.
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