All-payer claims databases can capture large sample sizes, geographic representation, and capture of longitudinal information on a wide range of individual patients. (Image: Shutterstock)

A new report by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) will assist state regulators in establishing a new All Payer Claims Database (APCD) in that state. The new database is one of many being considered by states as part of a nationwide movement to improve price transparency in health care.

California, home to several large insurers and health systems, is one of the largest states in the process of creating an APCD. These systems allow the collection of more complete insurance claim data sets, and many states are creating web sites to share some of that data with the public.

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), APCDs have several advantages over former systems of claims reporting:

• They include information on private insurance not found in other datasets.
• They include data from most or all insurance companies operating in any particular state, unlike some earlier proprietary datasets.
• They include information on care for patients across care sites, rather than just hospitalizations and emergency department visits. These older data sets reported primarily discharge data and were maintained by state governments or hospital associations.
• AHRQ said the new systems also include large sample sizes, geographic representation, and capture of longitudinal information on a wide range of individual patients.