Frequently Asked Questions
Welcome to the APCD Council Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page. The purpose of this resource is to provide answers or direction regarding recurring questions about APCDs or our organization. For information not answered here, please fill out a Request for Services , or peruse our publications
The APCD Council does not collect state claims data. Each state that allows for public release of their claims data has their own data release policy and process. Many states are currently releasing data to qualified users and some states have public use files that are released more freely. Please visit our Data Request page or contact each state directly to find out more information about accessing a state's claims data. Each state contact can be found on our website.
APCDs are large-scale databases that systematically collect health care claims data from a variety of payer sources which include claims from most health care providers.
Our website's Interactive State Report Map provides information about APCDs across the U.S. By simply selecting a state, you can find information related to that state’s APCD system.
Conduct an inventory of the insurance market, access data, add and evaluate public payers, develop submission rules, manage data, and validate data. An extensive look at developing an APCD system is outlined in the APCD Council Development Manual.
No, but the APCD Council and the National Association of Health Data Organizations are available to respond to questions, direct inquiries to appropriate subject-matter experts, advocate on behalf of state legislative and other efforts, and more. Please email info@NAHDO.org
The APCD Council does not collect state claims data. Each state that allows for public release of their claims data has their own data release policy and process. Please contact each state point of contact to find out more information about accessing a state's claims data.
The agency responsible for the APCD (e.g. Insurance Department, Health Department) is ultimately responsible for oversight of report production and controlling access to the APCD data according to well-defined data release policies and procedures. These policies and procedures protect privacy and prevent unauthorized usage. Agency staff will assure compliance to data access policies and interact with vendors and others to assure the website and reports are also in compliance. Typically, there is a multi-stakeholder committee managing data release requests.
States with data releases processes are detailed on our State Data Access page.
Please review the APCD Council Attribution Policy before including APCD Council information in presentations, etc. Thank you!
Public APCDs are typically funded by one or more of the following sources:
- General appropriations (e.g. New Hampshire)
- Fee assessments on public and private payers (health plans) and facilities (e.g. Vermont)
- Medicaid match (e.g. Utah)
- Data sales (e.g. Maine).
Other state APCDs also get additional support from foundations (e.g. Colorado) and one state is using federal Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program funds (e.g. Rhode Island). Private, voluntary reporting initiatives generally rely on membership dues for core funding (e.g. Wisconsin).
To be added to the APCD Council vendor list, a vendor organizations must demonstrate that they have either responded to RFIs or RFPs related to providing all-payer claims database services to states or have ever provided APCD-related services to states.