Surveys: Support

CMS Data Use Agreement (DUA) Support Services

To help you get CMS data authorization to access our data inventory, we connect you with our Researcher Data Assistance Center (ResDAC) contacts, who will guide you through the process of establishing or updating your CMS DUA.

To assist you in composing your CMS data request materials, we provide you with semi-populated ResDAC request forms.

CMS Data Linkage Services

We link your survey participants to CMS administrative records and output two types of linkage documents:

1. High-Level Match Rate Summary report that includes:

   • an overview of our matching records;
   • non-sensitive, summary matching statistics; and
   • variable population rates.

2. Two Crosswalk Files consisting of:

   • the Internal Survey Crosswalk File, which contains data from your finder file and our linkage results; and
   • the Researcher Crosswalk File, which you can distribute to external researchers to link your survey data to our CMS data files.

   NOTE: The Researcher Crosswalk File does not contain any personally identifiable information (PII).

We also update your linkage twice a year. To do so, we:

1. Obtain an updated finder file from you (when applicable).
2. Link your finder file against our latest CMS enrollment data, which CMS updates twice per year.
3. Update your linkage documents.

CMS Data Processing Services

To make your research easier, we develop a research-oriented version of your survey participants' CMS data by synchronizing versions of Parts A & B data and developing summary files that aggregate raw Medicare and Medicaid data from one participant into one row of data.

To minimize the re-identification risk of merging the survey data to the survey-linked CMS data, we've developed a Variable Encryption Techniques workbook for your survey to specify or update CMS data variable encryption methods.

CMS Data Distribution Services

To support your researchers, we've developed a MedRIC-specific data request form that simplifies how those researchers request access to your survey participants' CMS-linked data in our data inventory.

To assist you with the distribution of CMS-linked data of your survey participants, we follow CMS's data distribution protocols and securely distribute files to authorized recipients.

CMS Data Update Services

To get you newly available CMS data for your survey participants, we request CMS authorization to add new CMS data to our inventory annually. When we do so, we work with you to ensure that your CMS DUA remains up-to-date and in sync with our own.

MedRIC Request Tracking Tool

To help you manage external researchers' requests for your survey participants' CMS data, we can provide you with access to our Request Tracking Tool, which enables you to:

• log and keep track of each researcher request;
• upload any support or approval documents you need for a request; and
• communicate request-related updates to your organization and/or us.