The Maine Health Data Organization (MHDO) notifies users and providers of health care data when the MHDO receives a request for health data and accepts that request. This page provides the archived data requests, i.e. requests prior to the ten most recent. If you would like to see the ten most recent requests go to: https://mhdo.maine.gov/dataRequests_v2.htm. The process for the release of data to the public is described there as well.
| Request # | Requesting Party and Title | Affiliation | Date Posted | Comment Close Date | Specific Data Request |
Purpose of Request Benefits to the Citizens of Maine Public Reporting Plans |
Released Denied Withdrawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024011703 | Ruby, Ray, Executive Director | Maine Cancer Foundation | 2/6/2024 | 3/19/2024 | CY 2015 – CY 2023 MHDO Level II medical claims & eligibility, pharmacy claims & eligibility, inpatient & outpatient hospital encounters, cancer-incidence registry, and vital death statistics data, including Practitioner Identifiers, MHDO Provider Database, FIPS codes and the de-identified person directory. | This request has been updated to include Practitioner Identifiable Data Elements and the MHDO Provider Database. The purpose of this request is to build upon the previously authorized data request project 2023022401, in which the Maine Cancer Foundation (MCF) used MHDO data to create Maine's first comprehensive Cancer Blueprint. The goal of the Maine Cancer Blueprint is to increase knowledge and awareness of issues related to cancer, expand access to care, and support lifestyle changes to reduce cancer risk by exploring inequities and variations in cancer rates, by examining factors that may influence cancer risk, and analyzing how factors such as social determinants of health, race, ethnicity, insurance status, and socio-economic status influence health outcomes. The current website can be found here https://mainecancer.org/maine-cancer-blueprint. The website provides credible, detailed data points that inform grantmaking and programming efforts by MCF to support targeted interventions and the solicitation of more diverse, sustainable funding mechanisms for the organization, and are publicly available to Maine clinical experts, residents and others who are interested in actionable statistics related to cancer in Maine. The MCF is moving on to Phase Two of this project with the focus on updating existing measures and adding more detailed measures on colon and rectum cancer. The Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) is supporting MCF with using the MHDO data for identifying and creating measures that will report variations in cancer incidence, mortality, cost, screening rates, and access to care across Maine. The dataset may be used for ad hoc reporting requests directed by an advisory group formed by the MCF and comprised of clinical and other public health experts. | |
| 2023122001 | Green, Dantrell, Data Quality & Governance Mgr | Strata Decision Technology | 1/23/2024 | 3/6/2024 | Level I Hospital Inpatient Encounter Data | MHDO Level I inpatient hospital data will be used by Strata to assist their Maine Hospital clients with identifying opportunities for improving the quality of care and services they provide to their patients by effectively benchmarking their quality, safety, satisfaction, and utilization to their peers. The data is used to create aggregated benchmarks at both the APR-DRG and MS-DRG level. Hospitals can compare their performance to the benchmark file and determine where there is a variation in care. MHDO’s data is also used internally to benchmark hospital’s service line utilization and cost compared to statewide averages to help inform service line planning. The benchmark files can be used directly in conjunction with hospital client decision support systems, or through a web-based Clinical Analytics tool. Lastly, the benchmark data will be used to provide analytic services to client Hospitals and Health Care systems utilizing PA data sets for the purpose of market share analysis, product line performance, and patient migration patterns. | |
| 2023121303 | Birkhimer, Nancy, Accreditation and Performance Improvement Mgr | DHHS-ME CDC | 1/23/2024 | 3/6/2024 | CY 2022 – CY 2024 Level II Hospital Inpatient and Hospital Outpatient Data including City/Zip, DOB, and Race & Ethnicity data | The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (ME CDC) mission is to provide leadership, expertise, information, and tools (such as public health dashboards and reports) to assure conditions in which all Maine people can be healthy. Surveillance of chronic disease, maternal and child health, injury, and suicide is essential to efforts to reduce morbidity and preventable mortality in Maine. The ME CDC Division of Disease Prevention epidemiology team proposes to use inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department hospital discharge data to: (1) Conduct routine surveillance and monitoring of core chronic disease, maternal and child health indicators, and injury indicators for the Maine Shared Community Health Needs Assessment (https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/phdata/MaineCHNA/maine-interactive-health-data.shtml), and publicly post the indicators in cardiovascular health and diabetes prevention, asthma surveillance, suicide and injury prevention, maternal and child health surveillance, and other core activities of the Division of Disease Prevention. (2) Conduct analyses of risk factors associated with preventable morbidity and mortality due to chronic disease, maternal and child health, injury, and suicide. (3) Examine the association between social determinants of health and preventable morbidity and mortality. Analyses will include identification of disparities by race, ethnicity, age, and residential geography. These results of these analyses will enable Maine's public health leaders to conduct effective program planning, obtain crucial federal funding, and make data-informed decisions to support of the health and well-being of the people of Maine. The results will also be used to inform legislative and federal reporting as needed and/or required. | |
| 2023072701 | Chin-Fatt, Tanya | Sg2, LLC | 1/17/2024 | 2/28/2024 | Q1 2023 – Q2 2024 Level II Inpatient Hospital Encounter Data including City/Zip | MHDO’s hospital discharge data will be used in Sg2's online analytics tools to explore historical trends and develop demand forecasts by clinical area and geography; allowing Maine Hospitals and Hospital Systems to project and meet future demands by determining the appropriate allocation of resources to improve both the quality and availability of health care in the communities they serve. Sg2 applies proprietary CARE groupings to quantify baseline volumes, then applies its Impact of Change model to project demand for health care services over the next decade, examining the cumulative effects and interdependencies of key impact factors driving change in utilization in major Maine markets. Using both disease-based and MS-DRG–based analyses, the forecast provides a comprehensive picture of how patients will access services along the continuum of care. The resulting output can be visualized at the service area, zip code, service line, disease, and procedure levels which health systems serving Maine residents use to develop their operational and strategic plans. | |
| 2023122101 | Woloson, Ann,Executive Director | Maine Consumers for Affordable Health Care (CAHC) | 12/22/2023 | 2/6/2024 | Hospital Financial Data, specifically 2019 - 2022 audited financial statements for York Hospital, and 2019 – 2021 consolidating schedules of the audited financials for Northern Light Health System. | The overall purpose of this data request is to assist the Maine Consumers for Affordable Health Care (CAHC) in their efforts to develop policy proposals aiming to make health care more affordable for Maine citizens. Specifically, CAHC wants to understand the impact that their policy proposals might have on the financial health of Maine hospitals. The hospital financial data requested will supplement MHDO’s standardized Hospital Financial Reports available on the MHDO website. | |
| 2023121501 | Weiss, Diana | InterMed | 12/21/2023 | 2/5/2024 | Q3 2023 – Q2 2024 Level II Medical Claims, with City/Zip and Practitioner Identifiable Data | InterMed is requesting additional quarters of data to continue their previously approved project under MHDO data request numbers 2023062902 & 2021121401. InterMed is a physician-owned medical group founded on the goals of patient centered primary care that is enhanced by integrated specialty services. InterMed plans on using MHDO medical claims to identify opportunities to improve access, quality, and cost of care. For example, identify where patients are driving long distances to receive regular care for chronic conditions like diabetes. Identify potential locations to expand services including community based ambulatory care, partnerships with employers and regional health systems that will improve access. That is why InterMed is requesting demographic information to include patient zip code, location of healthcare services and providers throughout the state. InterMed also plans on using claims data to better understand the uptake of telehealth and opportunities to enhance those service and potentially integrate remote monitoring for hard to control conditions like hypertension. InterMed will use MHDO data to develop strategies to address clinical and social determinants of health. For example, using diagnosis to risk stratify populations and inform personalized healthcare services like care coordinators and dietitians for the highest risk populations. InterMed’s use of the MHDO data will directly impact quality and operational improvement activities in our organization and thus benefit our patients. This data will help inform our decisions regarding the allocation of primary care and specialty services and enable us to develop targeted new programs. | |
| 2023112901 | Dubois, Philip, Sr. Data Analyst | DHHS Maine - MaineCare | 12/15/2023 | 1/30/2024 | Q3 2022 - Q2 2023 Level II Dental Claims & Dental Eligibility data, including anonymous payer name | ME DHHS MaineCare’s Comprehensive Rate System Evaluation recommended that MaineCare establish rate benchmarks from commercial payers (including Medicare Advantage plans) for dental services to establish MaineCare’s reimbursement rates for those services. The original benchmarks were established in 2022 using MHDO data under previously authorized data request 2021101301. This new data request will be used to update those benchmarks for rates effective in 2024. | |
| 2023080801 | Nelson, Shelia, Program Manager | DHHS-ME CDC | 12/15/2023 | 1/30/2024 | Level II CY 2021 - CY 2022 Medical Claims, Medical Eligibility, including City/Zip, DOB, Race & Ethnicity data, and Anonymous Payor Name/ID | This data request seeks to add additional years of MHDO data (2021-2022) to previously approved data request number 2022020201 (2016-2020). The purpose of this study is to use Maine's all-payer claims data to explore claims related to suicide attempts and suicide ideation. Specifically, the Maine CDC's Adolescent Health and Injury Prevention Program in collaboration with the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of Public Health is interested in examining health care utilization patterns prior to and after an emergency department visit and/or hospitalization for a suicide attempt. Results from these analyses will allow the Maine CDC to identify opportunities for primary prevention and better understand follow-up care received following a suicide attempt. Under DR 2022020201 a study cohort was created by analyzing patterns of care received one year prior and one year after the first self-harm episode identified for the total study population. Results were submitted in a draft issue brief to the Maine CDC, which is currently being reviewed and will be presented to the CDC and other stakeholders they identify in early spring 2024. These results will inform further high-risk subgroup analyses and inclusion of an additional year of data to assess follow-up care for Mainers provided over a longer timeframe. | |
| 2023112801 | Winters, Joshua, Actuarial Assistant | Maine Bureau of Insurance | 12/6/2023 | 1/18/2024 | Custom Level II Extract Q1 2020 - Q2 2023 Commercial only Medical Claims, Pharmacy Claims, Dental Claims data with Payor Name/ID | Maine Bureau of Insurance (BOI) plans to utilize MHDO commercial claims data to prepare a report on the geographic area rating factor alterations in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) market. Currently, there are four separate rating area distinctions in the state: Area 1: Cumberland, Sagadahoc, York; Area 2: Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Oxford Area 3: Androscoggin, Franklin, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo; Area 4: Aroostook, Hancock, Washington. Per the ACA, all insurance carriers in the state must uniformly use these rating areas to set their premium rates. The BOI will use this data to assess the feasibility of splitting one of these areas into two, thusly creating five area distinctions instead of four. This will help better map the states natural healthcare utilization patterns and price the different costs of care more accurately by region. | |
| 2023100502 | Toman, Michaela , Project Coordinator | DHHS Maine - MaineCare | 11/16/2023 | 01/02/2024 | Level II Q3 2021 – Q3 2023 Medical Claims by payer type (Medicare, MaineCare, and Commercial), including member city/zip, practitioner identifiers, and race/ethnicity data | This data will be used to inform Maine DHHS regarding utilization and fiscal estimates for the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Model in Maine. CCBHC’s offer coordinated mental health and substance use services across the lifespan regardless of diagnosis, ability to pay, or place of residence; person- and family-centered services driven by the needs and preferences of clients and their families; a range of evidence-based, trauma-informed services and supports to meet the needs of their communities; and collaboration with other providers and health care systems to ensure coordination of care. Understanding cost and service utilization across all payor types will allow Maine DHHS to make informed decisions on service and rate design of the CCBHC model. | |
| 2023102301 | Pelletier, Heather, Program Coordinator | DHHS-Office of MaineCare Services | 10/26/2023 | 12/12/2023 | Ad Hoc report that includes aggregated numbers of MaineCare members, paid amounts by age, and diagnosis codes identified by the department as codes associated with serious illness. | The Maine Department of Health and Human Services is conducting, with support of legislative directive (LD) 1064 and the National Academy for State Health Policy's (NASHP’s) State Policy Institute to Improve Care for People with Serious Illness, a project to build a MaineCare palliative care interdisciplinary team (IDT) services benefit model. Palliative care IDT services improve patient quality of life and empowerment, health care value, and reduce care fragmentation through the provision of comprehensive care management, coordination, and supports to eligible individuals with serious illness. This data analysis will assist the Office of MaineCare Services (OMS) in projecting service utilization, total cost, and reimbursement as next steps in the project. The Ad-Hoc report will include total numbers of MaineCare members in several population groups distinguished by age, serious illness, and/or coverage type. As well as the total amount OMS spends per service categories for each of the population categories. | |
| 2023010301 | Harakall, Maryann, Maternal and Child Health Dir. | DHHS-ME CDC | 10/19/2023 | 12/4/2023 | Level II Q2 2022 – Q2 2024 Hospital inpatient encounter data, including city/zip, and DOB. | This request is a continuation of previously approved data request 2022020401. In 2021 Maine received funds to become part of the National Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM). This ongoing initiative involves engaging hospitals in the implementation of patient safety bundles designed to improve the quality of health care provided to women around the time of pregnancy with the overall goal to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity. Currently, 49 US states are enrolled in the AIM initiative. As part of this initiative, states are asked to provide administrative data on severe maternal morbidity by hospital (de-identified) to monitor progress on quality improvement (QI) efforts. Maine selected to focus on maternal hypertension as the state's first QI initiative. There are currently 20 Maine birthing hospitals currently participating in the project. Maine people will benefit from a data-driven approach to implementing best practices related to reducing maternal morbidity and improving care for pregnant people with severe hypertension. MHDO data will allow for ongoing monitoring of maternal morbidity to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of these evidence-based practices in Maine hospitals. | |
| 2023090102 | Atienza, Donna, Senior Advisor | Cigna Healthcare | 10/11/2023 | 11/22/2023 | Level II CY 2021 - CY 2022 Medical Claims including Anonymous Payer ID (identifying the payer as either Commercial, Medicaid, or Medicare) | This Cigna Healthcare (CH) project is a continuation of previously authorized data request 2021051901. The results of that project supported our negotiation with our providers to conform to current market rates, and we are requesting another two years’ of MHDO claims data. One part of the data analysis focuses on the reasonableness of medical costs in the commercial market. The data will provide CH the ability to assess health care costs for the Cigna network vis-à-vis other major carriers in the Maine commercial market. Second, we intend to look at a number of areas of interest to assess patterns of care that may be a concern in terms of appropriateness or perhaps from a geographic availability/coverage perspective, such as use of high technology services (e.g. MRI, Pet Scans, CAT Scans), use of high cost therapies, or high volume implants (e.g. hips and knees). This project will increase transparency around the affordability of medical care and the ability to better understand where Mainers aligned with Cigna can obtain services at rates that reasonably compared to market norms. This should lead to improved decisions around where to obtain care and allow Cigna to better deal with rates that are dramatically above standard market pricing. In addition, our Medical Quality teams will use the MHDO data to assess patterns of care and compare those patterns to internal patterns to better understand where opportunities for improvement might exist. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality and affordability of care for our members living in the state of Maine. | |
| 2023062101 | Matusovich, Becca | Children's Oral Health Network | 10/10/2023 | 11/21/2023 | CY 2022 Medical Claims, Medical Eligibility, Dental Claims, Dental Eligibility, including City/Zip, FIPS code, DOB, Race & Ethnicity data, and Anonymous Payor Name/ID. | This data request seeks to add an additional year of MHDO data (2022) to previously approved data request number 2022062903. A copy of the 2021 Maine COHN Data Brief can be found here https://www.mainecohn.org/what-we-do/data. The Children’s Oral Health Network (COHN), formerly the Partnership for Children’s Oral Health, is a broad network of oral health stakeholders who are collaborating toward a shared mission: eradicating dental disease among Maine children. A key piece of this work is to strengthen the capacity of Maine’s oral health service delivery systems to reach all children in Maine with effective preventive and restorative dental care. We plan to continue our analysis of MHDO’s all-payer claims data, in order to create a shared understanding of the strengths and challenges of the current delivery system and provide a snapshot of current patterns in utilization of preventive and restorative dental services. We will also look at variations in utilization and cost across payer/insurer type, age group, location/geography, provider type, and setting of care. Additionally, summary data will be reported on children's dental health use to the Kids Count Project, as well as the statewide Shared Community Health Needs Assessment and Public Health District data profiles. This project will benefit the people of Maine because it will help to build shared understanding of ways in which the current delivery system is able to meet the needs of Maine children, and what gaps remain. This will allow for collaborative planning to align resources and coordinate efforts to fill the gaps and increase children’s access to recommended oral health care. | |
| 2023091501 | Trachimowicz, Gina, Dr. - Neonatologist | Maine Neonatology Associates | 9/25/2023 | 11/6/2023 | A subset of the MHDO CY 2022 Maine Surprise Billing Template, limited to the median allowed amounts for neonatal & newborn CPT codes, by zip code and rating area. | Maine Neonatology Associates (MNA) is a group of specialists providing 24/7/365 newborn coverage and services within the NICU at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital (BBCH) at Maine Medical Center (the only level 4 NICU in the state) and Mercy Northern Light Hospital. In 2021, the NICU at BBCH admitted approximately 1000 infants, showing it has the full market share of infants requiring specialized care in the state and region. MNA will utilize the MHDO data to create fair and honest fee structures that align with the intention of the No Surprises Act, aiming to avoid payment disputes and improve contract negotiations with out-of-network insurers. This will ultimately benefit many infants and families in Maine. | |
| 2023091201 | Hooper, Marti, Life and Health Actuary | Maine Bureau of Insurance | 09/25/2023 | 11/6/2023 | MHDO Ad Hoc Request: CY 2017 - CY 2022 cost of biomarker testing for commercial and MaineCare members | The Ad Hoc report data will be used by the Bureau of Insurance to develop an analysis of projected expenditures of biomarker claims coverage and create a report for the Health Care, Insurance, and Financial Services Legislative Committee's mandate request, in response to proposed bill LD 1577 - An Act to Require Health Insurance Coverage for Biomarker Testing. This report may benefit Maine insurance policyholders and MaineCare members through determining the feasibility of including this coverage. | |
| 2023080701 | Grass, Dana | MaineHealth – Maine Bleeding Disorder Clinic | 8/30/2023 | 10/11/2023 | MHDO Ad Hoc Request: CY 2017 - CY 2022 number of deidentified patients with bleeding and clotting diagnosis by county, zip code, and facility name, including pharmacy locations fulfilling clotting factor medications. | The Maine Bleeding Disorders Center (MBDC) is a hemophilia treatment center within the Maine Health system. MBDC serves patients throughout the state of Maine and parts of New Hampshire with rare bleeding disorders. The data time frame for this report will be from 2017 – 2022, and include specific bleeding and clotting disorder diagnoses to identify locations that could serve as potential new sites for MBDC outreach clinics. The Ad Hoc report will also provide data regarding pharmacy claims for specific clotting factor drugs to identify locations that are not yet served by MBDC’s pharmacy program. It's possible that these regions will have claims data that differs from our patient population in number, highlighting to our team that this area may be underserved by our clinic. The goal of this project will be to identify potential outreach clinic sites for the MBDC that would increase accessibility of care for the largest number of patients and to identify potential existing clinics/hospitals in the area to partner with for the clinics. The main focus is on regionalizing areas according to where the patient population is located in order to afford easier care access. In addition to this, MBDC hopes to gather information on the geographic location of patients with hereditary clotting disorders by using specific diagnosis codes. MBDC plans to potentially expand and service this community in the future. | |
| 2023071701 | Ahrens, Katherine, Asst. Research Professor | University of Southern Maine | 7/20/2023 | 8/30/2023 | Q1 2023 – Q4 2023 Level II Medical Claims, Medical Eligibility, Pharmacy Claims, Pharmacy Eligibility data sets, with City/Zip, DOB, and FIPS codes. | This data request seeks to add an additional year of MHDO data (2023) to previously approved data request number 2022060713. The ongoing research project seeks to assess maternal health care utilization and morbidity in the first 24 months’ postpartum among women in Maine starting in 2006 up to present, focusing on women with medical conditions commonly diagnosed during pregnancy. We will assess if rural versus urban residence modifies postpartum health care utilization and morbidity, and how delayed contraception initiation affects short interpregnancy intervals. The findings from our analysis may be used to decrease the risk of future adverse health outcomes for women with common pregnancy conditions, thereby contributing to lowering maternal morbidity and mortality in the US. This project will benefit the people of Maine by identifying opportunities for healthcare interventions postpartum to improve reproductive women's health. This longitudinal study has so far published 5 manuscripts in academic journals, benefitting reproductive age women in Maine and their healthcare providers. | |
| 2023070601 | Bonthius, Jessica, Epidemiologist | Maine CDC | 7/13/2023 | 8/23/2023 | Q1 2022 – Q2 2024 Level II Hospital Inpatient & Outpatient Encounter data, including DOB, City/Zip, FIPS codes, and Race & Ethnicity data. | Maine CDC is requesting MHDO hospital encounter data, as a continuation of a previously approved data request number 291555, to conduct routine surveillance of chronic disease and environmental health conditions in Maine. Maine CDC uses MHDO data to monitor disease trends over time and identify geographic patterns in health disparities, including sub-county disparities. Emergency department visits (outpatient) and hospitalizations (inpatient) are key indicators and often the only available data for the surveillance of conditions ranging from chronic conditions (like asthma or cardiovascular disease) to acute situations (like heat-related illness) to maternal morbidity. These data will allow us to collaborate with Maine CDC agency partner programs, inform public health policies, and guide community outreach efforts throughout the State. | |
| 2023061301 | Menker, Madison Wolfe | Encompass Health | 07/12/2023 | 8/22/2023 | Q4 2021 – Q3 2022 Level II Inpatient Hospital Encounter Data with Patient Zip Codes | Encompass Health, an existing provider in Maine with its New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland (a Joint Venture with Maine Medical Center), will use the MHDO Inpatient Hospital Encounter data to evaluate the health care needs of Maine residents, and to determine ways in which Encompass might best serve those patients. The Level II data will allow Encompass to understand patient migration patterns and health care usage by area of the state. The patient zip code data will help us assess the distribution of services and identify any gaps in care. Payer category information will allow us to determine if utilization patterns differ by payer (Medicare, Medicaid, Commercial) and if so, to what extent the usage differs and if that varies by ZIP Code area. Benefit to Citizens of Maine: This data will be used to better determine the services Encompass is currently providing and what should be provided to meet the needs of residents in the state. | Released |
| 2023062902 | Weiss, Diana Dir. Business Intelligence | InterMed, P.A. | 7/06/2023 | 8/16/2023 | Q3 2022 – Q2 2023 Level II Medical Claims data, including Member City/Zip and Practitioner Identifiers | InterMed is requesting additional quarters of data to continue their previously approved project under MHDO data request number 2021121401. InterMed is a physician-owned medical group founded on the goals of patient centered primary care that is enhanced by integrated specialty services. InterMed serves patients in the community through practice sites in Portland, South Portland, and Yarmouth with the driving vision of care without compromise, every patient, all the time. InterMed plans on using medical claims data to identify opportunities to improve access, quality, and cost of care. For example, identify where patients are driving long distances to receive regular care for chronic conditions like diabetes. Identify potential locations to expand services including community based ambulatory care, partnerships with employers and regional health systems that will improve access. That is why InterMed is requesting demographic information to include patient zip code, location of healthcare services and providers throughout the state as well as details on diagnoses and procedures. InterMed also plans on using claims data to better understand the uptake of telehealth and opportunities to enhance those service and potentially integrate remote monitoring for hard to control conditions like hypertension. InterMed will use MHDO data to develop strategies to address clinical and social determinants of health. For example, using diagnosis to risk stratify populations and inform personalized healthcare services like care coordinators and dietitians for the highest risk populations. Benefits to the Citizens of Maine: InterMed’s use of the MHDO data will directly impact quality and operational improvement activities in our organization and thus benefit our patients. This data will help inform our decisions regarding the allocation of primary care and specialty services and enable us to develop targeted new programs. | Released |
| 2023062801 | Manchester, Chloe, Epidemiologist | Maine CDC | 6/30/2023 | 8/14/2023 | MHDO Ad Hoc Request - CY 2018 through CY 2022 adult Hepatitis A & B vaccinations by Maine county. | Maine CDC Division of Infectious Disease Surveillance is requesting MHDO to produce aggregate data on adult hepatitis A and B vaccination administration across the state from 2018-2022 to better identify areas of low vaccine coverage and view trends over time. Vaccination records for adults are not widely available because there is no universal adult vaccination program in Maine as exists for children. Therefore, all-payer claims data is a way to get insight into adult vaccination administration trends and coverage. These data will allow the Division of Infectious Disease Surveillance to collaborate with agency partners, community organizations, health care facilities and hospital systems to improve access to and uptake of hepatitis A and B vaccines. | |
| 2023041301 | Taylor, Rebecca, Deputy Dir.Research & Evaluation | Maine DHHS, Office of Behavioral Health | 6/12/2023 | 7/25/2023 | CY 2016 – CY 2023 Level II - MHDO Limited Data Set: Medical Claims, Medical Eligibility, Pharmacy Claims, Pharmacy Eligibility, In and Outpatient Hospital Encounters, released at the City/Zip and Date of Birth level including Practitioner Identifiers, Race & Ethnicity data, Anonymous Payer Name/ID. Along with Integrated APCD and Hospital Encounter Vital Birth & Death Statistics, and the De-Identified Person Directory. | MHDO’s data will be used as part of a three-part project to understand the impact of COVID-19 on behavioral health care service utilization by Maine residents. The Office of Behavioral Health, as part of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, is responsible for ensuring timely access to appropriate, high-quality, evidence-based behavioral health care for all people in Maine. The overall goals of this project are to quantify and compare de-identified mental health and substance use disorder care utilization prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and compare this to patterns of utilization since the pandemic state of emergency was declared on March 16, 2020. Three types of behavioral health care de-identified utilization will be examined: outpatient/ambulatory care visits, emergency department/acute care hospital visits, and pharmaceutical utilization. Benefit to the citizens of Maine: The data being requested will be utilized to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Mainers with behavioral health care needs. As the single state authority responsible for mental health and substance use disorder care provision in the state, OBH will use this data to classify vulnerable subpopulations whose ability to access behavioral health care has been negatively impacted by the pandemic, which in turn will allow evidence-based policy and program investment decisions. This data will also allow OBH to investigate the “health” of the behavioral health care system in Maine – where demand outpaces supply for types of behavioral health care, for example – which will inform how the state allocates funding to ensure care is available for all Mainers. | |
| 2023060701 | Harrington, Karynlee, Director | Maine Quality Forum | 6/8/2023 | 7/21/2023 | Level II Q1 2016 - Q4 2022 Medical Claims, Medical Eligibility, Pharmacy Claims, Pharmacy Eligibility released at the City/Zip and Date of Birth level including Practitioner Identifiers, Payer Group ID, Payer Name/ID and Anonymous Payer Name/ID; and non-claims-based payments, including supplemental data sets defined in Public Law 2022, Chapter 603, and 90-590 CMR Chapter 247, Uniform Reporting System for Non-Claims Based Payments and Other Supplemental Health Care Data Sets. | Both Public Law 244, An Act to Establish Transparency in Primary Care Spending; and Public Law 2022, An Act Regarding Reporting on Behavioral Health Care Services… requires the Maine Quality Forum (MQF) to produce annual spending reports for primary care and behavioral health care services in Maine using data from the Maine Health Data Organization. This request updates the data time-period by adding the most recent CY data set, 2022. The report will include the percentage paid (claims and non-claims payments) as a percentage of the respective total medical expenditures for primary care and behavioral health care by commercial insurers, the MaineCare program, Medicare, and the State Employee Plan and the Maine Education Association Benefits Trust; as well as the average percentage of total medical expenditures paid for primary care and behavioral health care across all payors. The reports will be submitted in January 2024 to the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health coverage and health insurance matters. Copies of most recent reports can be found here: https://mhdo.maine.gov/mqf.html. Purpose of Request/Benefits to the Citizens of Maine/Public Reporting Plans: Legislative mandate | Released |
| 2023050301 | Ahrens, Katherine | University of Southern Maine | 5/5/2023 | 6/16/2023 | Level II CY 2022 Hospital Inpatient Encounter data released at the City/Zip, FIPS, Date of Birth level. | This data request is an update to the previously approved MHDO data request # 2021080901, which included MHDO hospital inpatient data from 2009-2021. The specific research questions are: What are the trends in substance use-related delivery and newborn hospitalizations in the state of Maine. Do these trends vary by level of rurality of patient's residence or other patient characteristics, and what are the co-morbidities associated with substance use-related delivery and newborn hospitalizations in Maine. The team at USM will estimate the trends and characteristics that make up substance use-related delivery and newborn hospitalizations in the state of Maine. Benefit to Citizens of Maine: This information can lead to the development of interventions to prevent these types of hospitalizations, thereby benefitting the people of Maine. | Released |
| 2023041801 | Russell, Robert, President | Maine Ambulance Assoc. | 4/27/2023 | 6/8/2023 | Level II Q4 2021 - Q4 2022 Medical Claims Data including Practitioner Identifiers | Maine Ambulance Association is requesting additional quarters of data to continue our previously approved project under request number 2021112301. MHDO's claims data will be used to analyze ambulance services provided in Maine, including revenue sources and access. The analysis of revenue streams from all payors will be used to examine opportunities to improve financial support for EMS services across the State. Benefit to Citizens of Maine: Improvements to the services EMS providers deliver to Maine citizens, including improved quality and access. | Released |
| 2023031301 | Rosingana, Katie, Research Associate | Catherine Cutler Inst., USM | 4/18/2023 | 5/30/2023 | Ad Hoc Request - MHDO will use Level II APCD data for the time-period 2018-2021 to produce a custom report that will display aggregated payment data for individuals 65 and over for specific diagnosis (Diabetes, COPD, and CHF) by hospital and by payer name. | The Cutler Institute at USM is evaluating the effect of Community Paramedicine (CP) service programs in Maine. Currently in Maine, CP services are not reimbursed by any public or private payer of medical expense insurance. As interest grows in both the cost efficacy and improved health outcomes related to CP, it is prudent to examine how CP programs might be allowing for cost avoidance. The Cutler team will apply a cost avoidance formula, developed by Matt Zavadsky and the MedStar Mobile Integrated Health Team, to the data provided by MHDO. Benefits to the Citizens of Maine/Public Reporting Plans: The goal of the project is to quantify and identify possible cost-avoidance evidence for insurers, which may affect improvements in the availability of CP services coverage, which in turn can provide tangible benefits to the people of Maine. | Released |
| 2023032001 | Doucette, Elmer, CFO | Redington-Fairview General Hospital | 3/21/2023 | 5/2/2023 | Ad Hoc Request - CY 2018 through CY 2022 locations of births for residents of Somerset County | Redington-Fairview General Hospital (RFGH) wants to learn where residents of Somerset County, ME are delivering their newborns. This will allow us to better plan our resources for the communities we serve. Benefit to Citizens of Maine: This report will be used to better determine the services RFGH is currently providing and what should be provided to meet the needs of the Maine communities and citizens we serve. | Released |
| 2023022401 | Raymond, Ruby, Executive Director | Maine Cancer Foundation | 2/28/2023 | 4/11/2023 | CY 2015 - CY 2022 Level II MHDO's De-Identified Person Directory including Race & Ethnicity data. Integrated APCD and Vital Death Statistics and Cancer Incidence Registry Datasets; Integrated Hospital Encounter and Vital Death Statistics and Cancer Incidence Registry Datasets. Member FIPS Codes. | The purpose of this request is to access newly available MHDO data elements that will supplement the MHDO data already received under approved data request number 2022061001. MHDO's comprehensive data sets will support the creation of Maine's first comprehensive Cancer Blueprint, to increase knowledge and awareness of issues related to cancer, expand access to care, and support lifestyle changes to reduce cancer risk by exploring inequities and variations in cancer rates, by examining factors that may influence cancer risk, and analyzing how factors that may influence cancer risk, and analyzing how factors such as social determinants of health, race, ethnicity, insurance status, and socio-economic status influence health outcomes. The goal is to provide credible, detailed data points that (a) will inform grantmaking and programming efforts by the Maine Cancer Foundation (MCF) to support targeted interventions and the solicitation of more diverse, sustainable funding mechanisms for the organization, and (b) will be publicly available to Maine clinical experts, residents and others who are interested in actionable statistics related to cancer in Maine. The Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) is supporting MCF with using the MHDO data for identifying and creating measures that will report variations in cancer incidence, mortality, cost, screening rates, and access to care across Maine. The dataset may be used for ad hoc reporting requests directed by an advisory group formed by the MCF and comprised of clinical and other public health experts. Benefit to Citizens of Maine: The information developed for the Blueprint will be publicly available to Maine clinical experts, residents and others who are interested in actionable statistics related to cancer in Maine. | Released |
| 2023012601 | Mellett, Jean, VP - Planning and Strategy | Northern Light Health | 1/30/2023 | 3/10/2023 | Level II CY 2023 Inpatient and Outpatient Hospital Encounter Data, including Patient City/Zip, Practitioner Identifiable, Race & Ethnicity, and Cancer-Incidence Registry Data. | Northern Light Health (NLH) will use the data to support its member organizations and their planning efforts to advance initiatives important to the hospital system, the people of Maine, and the State's healthcare system. The mission of NLH is to improve the health of the people and communities we serve. To fulfill the mission successfully, we must have access to data regarding: 1. Patient origin and demographics 2. Locations of healthcare services and providers 3. Healthcare services utilization rates and volumes 4. Healthcare services provided, including diagnoses and procedures. MHDO data has been used by NLH in previously approved data requests to appropriately optimize resource allocations. Zip code data allows NLH to understand important care delivery factors like distances traveled by patients to receive services. Patient age enables NLH to refine program planning to meet the needs of patients in specific age groups (e.g., pediatrics, geriatrics, etc.). Race and ethnicity data provide important context to identify and address gaps around health care equity. Cancer-Incidence Registry data will inform future developments in NLH's existing Oncology services. Provider identification data informs decision-making regarding future placement of services and/or collaborative efforts to improve access to services. NLH's network of hospitals spans most of the State's geography, from Presque Isle to Portland. This level of coordination is also increasingly important to ensure appropriate delivery of services to rural parts of Maine. MHDO data will also allow NLH to keep abreast of the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on healthcare utilization patterns. NLH will conduct analyses to support individual endeavors and help provide a strategic framework with the ultimate goal of providing the people of Maine with the right care, at the right time, in the right place. | Released |
| 2022121201 | Whaley, Christopher | RAND Corporation | 1/13/2023 | 2/27/2023 | CY 2018 - CY 2022, Level II Medical Claims and Medical Eligibility, including Practitioner Identifiable data, and Date of Birth. | This is an on-going project utilizing MHDO data since 2015. Researchers at the RAND Corporation will reprice commercial medical claims from MHDO using Medicare's groupers and pricing algorithms and will release a public research report that includes commercial prices as a percent of Medicare prices for hospitals and hospital systems identified by name. This research report will update and expand on the findings in previous RAND reports released in May 2019 and September 2020. The public research report will include hospitals from around the country and will be created using claims data from three sources: self-insured employers, state-based all payer claims databases (APCDs), and health plans. It will exclude patients aged 65+ because their care may have been partially covered by public insurance (the study is focused on prices paid for patients with commercial insurance). Benefit to Citizens of Maine: This project will benefit the people of Maine by providing them with a detailed hospital price report for hospitals in Maine, as well as comparisons among hospitals in Maine versus hospitals in other states. Key audiences for the report will be 1. self-insured employers that participate in the study and that are assessing the reasonableness of the prices they are paying for hospital care, 2. other employers that are struggling with high and rising health care costs and that want to better understand patterns and trends in hospital prices, and 3. policymakers and researchers who are concerned with hospital pricing and price transparency. | Released |
| 2022083003 | Teachout, Aaron, CFO | Northern Maine Medical Center | 11/15/2022 | 12/30/2022 | Level II Q1 2019 - Q2 2023 Medical Claims, City/Zip, DOB, Practitioner Identifiers, Anonymous Payer Name/ID. | Level II Request: Conduct market analysis for the Northern Maine Medical Center (NMMC) primary and secondary service areas in order to understand provider referral patterns as well as where the Northern Maine population is going and receiving medical services. We will use zip codes to determine the geographical origin of the patients receiving the services. We will use the date of birth to calculate the age of patients at the time of service. The rendering and referring provider information will be used to understand referral patterns throughout Northern Maine. Lastly, we need to understand what insurance (Commercial, Medicare, Medicaid) the patients have that are being seen to better understand the overall market of the population. Benefit to Citizens of Maine: This data will be used to better determine the services NMMC is currently providing and what should be provided to meet the needs of the Maine communities and citizens we serve. | Released |
| 2022092801 | Moylan, Christina | Maine Attorney General's Office | 10/18/2022 | 12/2/2022 | Level II Q2 2019 - Q1 2023 Medical Claims and Hospital Inpatient and Outpatient Encounter data released by City/Zip, including Practitioner Identifiers. | Level II Data Request: The data will be used to conduct competitive analysis for mergers and potential anticompetitive agreements in healthcare pursuant to state and federal antitrust laws. Antitrust law's goal is to preserve competition in order to constrain costs, maintain or improve quality and maintain or increase access to healthcare. Additionally, we intend to use these data to study the use of Maine hospitals by residents of the state, and competition between these hospitals to provide those service. Patients' ZIP Code information will allow us to analyze how far patients are willing to travel to receive inpatient and outpatient care, and to identify the hospitals in each patients' local area that compete to provide care to residents of that area. The practitioner identifiers will allow us to analyze the physicians who have privileges at each hospital in Maine, and what other hospitals those physicians may also have privileges. These overlaps in medical staff may be informative about the extent to which - depending on the patient's choice of physicians - those hospitals compete to provide care to patients. Benefit to Citizens of Maine: The APCD data will allow us to study competition between physician groups in Maine, and competition between hospital outpatient departments and freestanding facilities to provide outpatient care to residents of Maine. | Withdrawn |
| 2022062905 | Jonk, Yvonne, Asst. Research Prof. | University of Southern Maine | 9/29/2022 | 11/14/2022 | Level II Q1 2021 - Q4 2021 Medical Claims and Medical Eligibility data released at the County and Age level. | Level II Data Request: USM was previously authorized under Data Request #2020081102 to utilize the requested MHDO APCD dataset for Q1 2012 - Q4 2020. This data request is an extension of that project, whereby researchers at USM have been conducting a multi-payer study of trends in telehealth use by children in Maine. The study uses Maine's All-Payer Claims Database (APCD) to develop a descriptive overview of telehealth use in Maine, examining how telehealth use has changed over time among rural and urban children and whether there are discernable patterns in those changes by telehealth modality, payer, provider type, diagnosis and service. USM has been documenting the potential need for expanded use of telehealth services among rural pre-school and school aged children within the state of Maine. USM is seeking authorization to use this dataset for the continuation of the telehealth research project described above. Benefit to Citizens of Maine: This project will benefit the people of Maine by informing and facilitating the development of targeted telehealth training programs that will help fill gaps in telehealth workforce shortages throughout the state and improve access to health services by expanding telehealth workforce capacity. | Released |
| 2022083101 | Ahrens, Katherine, Asst. Research Prof. | University of Southern Maine | 9/21/2022 | 11/3/2022 | Level II Q4 2015 - Q1 2020 Hospital Inpatient and Outpatient Encounter data released by City/Zip and DOB, including breakdown by Race/Ethnicity. | Level II Data Request: Respiratory tract infections are a leading cause of hospitalization and emergency department visits among infants in the United States. Infants who receive childcare at home are less likely to contract a respiratory tract infection than those who receive out-of-home childcare, but it is unknown whether provision of paid parental leave reduces emergency department visits and hospitalizations related to respiratory tract infections. Further, it is unknown if any beneficial effects of paid family leave on respiratory tract infection are experienced equitably across race/ethnicity and socio-economic groups. This data will be used as part of a National Institute of Health (NIH)-funded project to look at the effect of New York State's paid family leave policy, enacted January 1, 2018. The research aims to determine the effect the policy may have on: 1) Reduced rates of acute care encounters for respiratory tract infections and 2) Reduced disparities in rates of acute care encounters for respiratory tract infections by neighborhood socio-economic status or racial-ethnic group. Data from Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts will act as controls, currently having no paid family leave policy in place. Benefit to Citizens of Maine: Our project will benefit the people of Maine because it will evaluate the effect of paid family leave on infant health; this is a timely and relevant evaluation, as Maine policy-makers are considering introducing paid family leave in our state. Our primary anticipated audience is the scientific community and policy-makers interested in implementing paid family leave. We anticipate submitting our findings for publication in the peer-reviewed literature. | Released |
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