Where do I send my data?

Data files are uploaded via secure portal to Hospital Industry Data Institute (HIDI), the data vendor DOH has contracted to collect facility data. Please contact Robert Scott at HIDI (573-893-3700 ext. 1360) to request access.

What is HIDI?

Hospital Industry Data Institute (HIDI), the data company of the Missouri Hospital Association, is a vendor that DOH has contracted to collect, validate, encrypt, and clean facility data. HIDI returns a limited data set to DOH.

Does my facility need a Business Associate Agreement with HIDI?

No. Because HIDI is contracted by DOH, the Business Associate Agreement is between DOH as the Covered Entity (CE) and HIDI as the Business Associate (BA). HIDI is acting on DOH’s behalf as the vendor.

Does my facility need a Business Associate Agreement with DOH?

Yes. A copy of the Business Associate Agreement can be found in the Program Guidelines, appendix A-4.

What are the penalties for non-reporting facilities?

Under 7 AAC 27.660, discharge data reporting is required for facilities which are providers of Medicaid services subject to 7 AAC 105 – 7 AAC 160 or subject to licensure under AS 47.32 and 7 AAC 12. Facilities which are required to report but do not may be referred to the Division of Health Care Services to determine whether sanctions may be appropriate under Medicaid or Facilities Licensing and Certification.

What is the validation process?

After submitting your data to HIDI, you will be notified that you have an error report generated. This document will contain documentation of all the records that were flagged by the automatic validation process. This checks certain fields for invalid or missing data as well as flagging some fields based on logical tests or to request verification of uncommon values.

Examples of common errors include:

Missing or invalid required fields:

Race is missing
ZIP code is invalid
Total charges amount is missing
Place of Service is missing
SSN is a required field if age > 0
SSN is equal to 999999999

Logical tests:

Observation hours > 72 hours, please verify
Admit type is newborn but principal diagnosis code is not newborn
Individual line item charges do not add up to total charges
Discharge date is prior to admit date, check admit date
Age is greater than 0 and other diagnosis appropriate for infants only

Uncommon values:

Patient type is outpatient but total charges less than $40 or more than $30,000
Principal payer is "Other"
Length of stay is greater than 365 days, verify discharge and admit dates

Facilities have 30 days following the initial submission due date to review the error validation reports, make corrections if necessary, and provide a corrected dataset to HIDI. At the end of the reporting period, a clean data file is returned to DOH by HIDI.

Occasionally, other data quality issues are discovered after the data are in use by DOH and other researchers. Facilities will be notified of suspected issues and given the opportunity to supply a corrected data set if necessary.

What if my facility needs extra time to comply?

Please let us know, using the form found in Appendix A-2 of the Program Guidelines document. Extensions will be given in 30-day increments provided the facility is working toward compliance.

Will my facility's data be released?

Yes. A limited data set can be released for approved purposes under HIPAA provided that a Data Use Agreement is in place between the user and DOH. The data may be used for public health research and practice and health care operations. Only participating Alaska facilities may request data for health care operations purposes, and this dataset does not include charge information.

Can my facility obtain a copy of the data?

Yes. Individual facilities may request a copy of their own dataset free of charge. Alaska facilities may request the statewide dataset for healthcare operations purposes provided that they are up to date with their required reporting. There is a charge of $2,000 per calendar year of data. Refer to the Program Guidelines for forms and agreements.

What does the dataset look like? What will I get?

The 2015 inpatient database contains about 61,000 discharge records, and the outpatient database contains about 1.2 million records. The files are tab-delimited .txt files. Due to the size of the database, we recommend using statistical software that is capable of handling large datasets. Data are transmitted via secure electronic message.

For more information contact:

• Research Unit
  Health Analytics & Vital Records
  Alaska Division of Public Health
  PO Box 110675
  Juneau, AK 99811
  Phone: (907) 465-8604
  Fax: (907) 465-4689
  Email: healthanalytics@alaska.gov