CMS has just launched the “Virtual Research Data Center” (VRDC) to help researchers virtually access and analyze the CMS vast store of healthcare data. Now researchers using the VRDC will be able to access CMS data from their own workstations and analyze and manipulate data within the VRDC.
Historically, CMS has filled researchers’ data requests by preparing and shipping encrypted data files. However, given the rapidly growing demand for timelier Medicare and Medicaid data, the agency needs a less resource-intensive means for responding to data requests.
The VRDC offers several advantages over the traditional shipped encrypted data files. First, researchers are now able to access Medicare data at a significantly lower cost. Physical delivery for large samples of Medicare Parts A, B, and D data can cost more than $100,000 for just one year of data. In contrast, by using the VRDC, researchers are able to conduct one project over the course of the year and can access as much Medicare data as needed for approximately $40,000.
Secondly, researchers will not need to maintain expensive data infrastructures of their own because they will access to the data using a secure virtual desktop. Also, researchers will not have to wait long for data when they use the VRDC. Due to the time consuming nature of physical data delivery, CMS generally only shipped data to researchers on an annual basis in the past, but now researchers will be able to refresh their data analyses routinely.
For more information, go to www.resdac.org.