Pennsylvania Code & Bulletin
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

• No statutes or acts will be found at this website.

The Pennsylvania Bulletin website includes the following: Rulemakings by State agencies; Proposed Rulemakings by State agencies; State agency notices; the Governor’s Proclamations and Executive Orders; Actions by the General Assembly; and Statewide and local court rules.

PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 19-436

NOTICES

HEALTH CARE COST
CONTAINMENT COUNCIL

Special Reports and Requests for Data

[49 Pa.B. 1484]
[Saturday, March 23, 2019]

 The Health Care Cost Containment Council (Council), according to the act of July 8, 1986 (P.L. 408, No. 89), as re-enacted and amended by the act of July 17, 2003 (P.L. 31, No. 14) and the act of June 10, 2009 (P.L. 10, No. 3), is required to publish a list of all special reports and data that have been prepared during the previous calendar year. The following represents a summary of the reports and requests for data generated by the Council in calendar year 2018. The list of data fields that are included in the standard public use files are located in PDF files posted on the Council's web site at www.phc4.org (select ''Services,'' then ''Data Requests''). Questions about procedures for obtaining access to Council data should be addressed to JoAnne Z. Nelson, Supervisor of Special Requests, Health Care Cost Containment Council, 225 Market Street, Suite 400, Harrisburg, PA 17101, (717) 232-6787, jnelson@phc4.org.

Applicant and Project Description

Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality—Jenny Schnaier/Carol Stocks, PhD, RN

 Statewide second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge and inpatient revenue code detail datasets and 2017 ambulatory/outpatient procedure and outpatient revenue code detail datasets with derived fields (number of days to admission, days to procedure and age). The data will be used in the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), which uses the data for multiple databases, reports, and tools and products. The HCUP databases enable research on a broad range of health policy issues, including cost and quality of health services, medical practice patterns, access to health care programs, and outcomes of treatments at the National, regional, State and local levels.

Allegheny County Health Department—LuAnn Brink, PhD, MPH

 Standard regional 2017 inpatient discharge dataset for Region 1 to be used for public health surveillance, research and targeted intervention purposes to help identify areas of Allegheny County with a higher risk of nonfatal injuries, including falls and motor vehicle crashes, and acute outcomes that may be associated with environmental quality, including asthma and cardiovascular events.

Armstrong County Memorial Hospital—Joyce Wright

 Standard regional fourth quarter 2016 through third quarter 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets for Region 1 to be used for market share analysis.

Boston University School of Medicine—Amresh Hanchate, PhD

 A modification to a previous request for additional custom data. The request was for a custom 2012 through 2017 inpatient discharge dataset of adult cases with derived fields (number of days to admission) and revised 2010 and 2011 data. The data will be combined with other states' data, Census population data, the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey Database, and Area Resource Files (ARF) and other data sources to be used for a study, National Estimates for Inpatient Care, Outcomes and Hospital Effect among Hispanics, which will develop a near-National inpatient database for Hispanic adults to characterize Hispanics' patterns of inpatient care usage, and the quality of the care they receive. Specifically, they will examine whether greater access barriers among Hispanics result in higher rates of admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions—hospitalizations considered to be preventable with access to timely ambulatory care and less use of referral-based inpatient surgeries.

Capital Health—Jeremye Cohen

 Standard regional 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets for Regions 8 and 9 to be used for Capital Health's planning purposes for their health system to assist in determining public demand.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia—Scott Lorch, MD

 A modification to a previous request for additional custom data. The request was for a custom 1995 through 2016 inpatient discharge dataset of mother delivery records and newborn birth records for infants born during 1995 through 2014, with newborn readmission records linked with Department of Health (Department) birth certificate (1995—2014) and mortality data (1995—2015) files. The data will be combined with similar data from California and Missouri supplemented with AAP nursery level data and AHA Annual Survey hospital characteristics data to be used for a National Institutes of Health funded study entitled, Effect of Changing NICU Patient Volumes and Levels of Care on Neonatal Outcomes. The study will identify the structures and patient volumes needed to optimize the outcomes of premature infants, allowing for evidence-based policies at the State and National level to guide the development of perinatal delivery systems.

Community Health Systems—Tomi Galin

 Standard Statewide 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets to be used to understand Community Health Systems' communities specific health care needs, areas of underservice and with high risk for specific disease, defining health care demand to support planning, illustrate access issues to develop outreach programs or eliminate service. The data will be used to determine whether primary care services and appropriate access are satisfied within a defined market area.

Coordinated Health—Nicole Protzman

 Standard Statewide 2017 and 2018 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets to be used for analysis of service areas and market share within the defined service areas.

Crozer Keystone Health System—Elizabeth Jaekle

 Standard Statewide fourth quarter 2015 through 2017 inpatient revenue code detail dataset to be used to identify rehabilitation services as part of their analytic market share analysis.

DLP Memorial Medical Center—Carrie Arcurio

 Standard Statewide second through fourth quarter 2017 inpatient discharge dataset to be used to internally evaluate their current performance, competitor's performance and future opportunities. They will be able to illustrate current market share and to enhance various other planning tools such as budgets and 5-year plans.

Drexel University—Anthony M. Esposito

 Standard facility 2017 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge dataset for Hahnemann University Hospital to be used to determine Hahnemann's primary service area for strategic planning purposes. Drexel is trying to establish other clinical relationships and open other locations for physician offices.

Evangelical Community Hospital—Nicole Lohr

 Standard regional second quarter 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets for Regions 4 and 5, a modification to a previous request for a custom 2017 inpatient discharge dataset of Regions 4 and 5 cases with derived fields (number of days from prior discharge), and a standard regional third and fourth quarter 2017 ambulatory/outpatient procedure dataset for Regions 4 and 5 to be used to conduct an internal study of its market share and gain a better understanding of the population it serves.

Excela Health—Allison Lutz

 Standard Statewide second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge, ambulatory/outpatient procedure, and inpatient and outpatient revenue code detail datasets to be used to examine State, county, and hospitals inpatient and outpatient market share in reports developed by Excela Health's consultants, DataBay Resources and Quantros.

Faegre Baker Daniels, LLP—Emily D. Steeb

 A custom 2008 through 2015 inpatient discharge data report of the number of cardiac cases for five hospitals to possibly be used in litigation.

Foundation for Advance of International Medical Education & Research—John J. Norcini, PhD

 Standard Statewide 2010 through 2017 inpatient discharge dataset will be combined with Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) data to be used to investigate and understand the educational experiences and migration patterns of international medical graduates and to determine their impact on population health. Health care outcomes will be examined as they relate to international physician data to better understand the impact of international medical graduates in the United States workforce. The analyzed data will be used for the purposes of publication in journals and the refinement of the ECFMG certification process.

Fulton County Medical Center—Deborah Shughart

 Custom 2015 through 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets of cases who reside in Fulton, Franklin, Huntingdon or Bedford County to be used to analyze patient utilization by service line as well as patient outmigration from Fulton County and surrounding areas.

Georgetown University—Jean M. Mitchell, PhD

 Standard Statewide 2015 through second quarter 2017 ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets and re-use 2014 ambulatory/outpatient procedure dataset to be used to build on their prior project. Ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) will be investigated on whether they are in compliance with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ASC Quality Reporting program requirements, and will examine if degree of specialization influences whether an ASC is in compliance with the quality reporting requirements.

Good Shepherd Rehab Network—John Grencer

 Standard regional 2017 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge dataset and first and second quarter 2017 ambulatory/outpatient procedure dataset for Regions 4—9 to be used for internal analysis for Good Shepherd Rehab Network's services.

Highmark Health—Brian Lindner/Shawn Calloway

 Standard Statewide fourth quarter 2016 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge, ambulatory/outpatient procedure, and inpatient and outpatient revenue code detail datasets. Highmark Health will use the data for ongoing operational analysis and planning purposes. Highmark Health and their consultants will perform analyses of hospitals and surgery centers in western and central Pennsylvania with respect to issues including service offerings, payer mix, patient travel patterns, facility service areas, provider market shares and trends; and analyses of hospital capacity and utilization, bed counts, revenues and costs, and trends. The analyses will relate to regulatory compliance and integrated health care delivery network and financing system efforts to evaluate hospital competition, further develop Allegheny Health Network and offer high-value insurance products.

Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania—Peter Nguyen/Phillip Burrell

 A second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 custom inpatient discharge readmission analysis data report of hospitals' 7-day and 30-day rates, a second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 custom Statewide inpatient discharge dataset with calculated data fields (number of days from prior record) and a standard inpatient revenue code detail dataset, and a 2017 and restated 2016 standard Statewide financial data report. The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) will use the data to conduct ongoing monitoring of Statewide, regional and hospital-specific quality outcomes. HAP may, from time to time, release the aggregate results of its quality monitoring research and use analysis of the information for member education. HAP intends to host MONAHRQ for member-only use on its private web site. HAP also intends to host a more limited version of MONAHRQ as a public consumer quality and cost transparency web site known as Care in PA. The data will also be used by HAP's consultant Applied Medical Software to develop best practice financial norms analysis for HAP to use to determine the viability of inviting hospitals in this Commonwealth to participate in performance-based gainsharing program. The readmission analysis data will be used for HAP's Hospital Improvement Innovation Network contract awarded by CMS.

Hospital for Special Surgery—Elissa Bergman

 Custom 2016 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure dataset of cases with musculoskeletal conditions to be used internally for planning purposes and get a better understanding of the patient population in this Commonwealth.

Indiana Regional Medical Center—Mark Richards

 Standard regional 2015 through 2017 inpatient discharge dataset for Region 3 to be used for analysis to conduct a market assessment in preparation for a board retreat focused on strategic planning.

Intalere (formerly DataBay Resources)—Bernice Murano

 Standard Statewide second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge, ambulatory/outpatient procedure, and inpatient and outpatient revenue detail datasets will be combined with other all-payer health care data to be used to produce various aggregate report files distributed by Intalere/DataBay's Navigate system (PC based) and NavigateNet system (Internet-based) that are offered as health care software products to its customers. The reports can be by product line, service area, hospital or health system, physician and/or physician group, which can include but are not limited to market share, patient origin, use rates, charges, surgery detail, payer mix, patient demographics, diagnosis/procedure distribution, refinement, and the like.

Jacqueline B. Bittner, Esq.

 Custom 2009 through 2010 ambulatory/outpatient procedure dataset for cases who reside in Atlantic City or Cape May Counties in New Jersey to be used to determine the relevant geographic market for endovascular interventions in the Atlantic City and Cape May areas for litigation purposes. The plaintiff's expert will combine the data with New Jersey data and analyze zip codes in New Jersey migrating for treatment at Philadelphia hospitals.

Jian Strategic Marketing—Heidi Orie

 Standard regional second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets for Regions 1—3 to be used to analyze ambulatory surgery trends in the market for nonprofit health care providers. The information will be used for consulting purposes to help guide marketing and communication tactics to providers and consumers.

Kaufman, Hall & Associates—Erin Coppersmith

 Standard Statewide 2016 and 2017 inpatient discharge and inpatient revenue code detail datasets will be combined with other states' data to help health care providers increase the quality of care they provide to their patients by effectively benchmarking their quality, safety, satisfaction, cost and utilization to their peers. The information will be used for creating benchmarks at the APR-DRG and MS-DRG level accessible through files in conjunction with hospital client decision support systems and a web-based tool (PEAK).

Lancaster General Health—Joshua Campos

 Standard Statewide second quarter 2017 ambulatory/outpatient procedure dataset to be used to understand demand and utilization for ambulatory surgery in this Commonwealth.

Lehigh University—Shin-Yi Chou, PhD

 Standard Statewide 2014 through 2017 inpatient discharge datasets will be linked with physician reviews and ratings scraped from public physician review web sites and linked with the AHA's Annual Survey to be used for a research study, The Impact of Online Physician Ratings on Patient Choice, that will examine the impact of online physician ratings on patients' choices and thus examine the impact on social welfare and to provide policy implications.

Lehigh Valley Health Network—Stephen L. Christopoulos/Vanessa J. Villaverde

 Standard Statewide second quarter through fourth quarter 2017 inpatient discharge dataset and 2014 through 2017 ambulatory/outpatient procedure dataset will be used for service area analyses, competitive analyses, product line trends and analyses, and incidence rate comparisons and trends for program development. The data will also be used for research population based health issues, to promote health and well-being of targeted vulnerable populations; internal quality control research; internal resource utilization research; support development of continuum of care research; and community based health needs that target chronic illnesses.

Monongahela Valley Hospital—Patrick J. Alberts

 Standard second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 regional inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets for Region 1 and Statewide inpatient and ambulatory/outpatient revenue code detail datasets to be used to analyze clinical data to identify gaps in services to offer new services to Monongahela Valley Hospital's community.

Mount Nittany Health—Alicia Grube

 Custom second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge dataset of patients who reside in Blair, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Huntingdon or Mifflin County and a modification to a previous request for a custom 2016 inpatient discharge dataset of patients who reside in Jefferson, Cameron, Elk, Cambria and Bedford County and fourth quarter 2016 inpatient discharge dataset of patients who reside in Juniata County. The data will be used for internal market share analysis.

Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children—Stacey Milunsky

 Custom 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets of pediatric cases to be used for market share analysis, specifically, to identify opportunities to create more appropriate care settings and better local access points of care.

New Solutions, Inc.—Nancy Erickson

 Custom 2017 inpatient discharge dataset of patients originating from New Jersey or Bucks, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, Philadelphia, Pike or Wayne County will be risk adjusted and produced into reports used by New Solutions for consulting and providing market share analysis to their hospital clients.

OptumInsight—Holli Boetcher

 Standard Statewide 2016 inpatient discharge dataset to be used to produce hospital performance ratings including quality, cost efficiency and patient volume, which will be combined with other information and made available to their customers through their Optum Hospital Quality Ratings tool. Their customers may review and compare hospital performance ratings to help make informed decisions about where to seek care.

OSS Health—Tricia Wolf

 Custom 2014 through 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure dataset of patients with musculoskeletal related conditions who reside in Region 5 or were treated at hospitals and ASCs in Region 5, to be used for studying Southwestern Pennsylvania analysis of populations health/value-based musculoskeletal care. They will conduct a competitive research study and analysis of patient access, cost and outcomes of OSS Health's physicians, hospitals and ancillaries versus other health care networks in the similar service area.

Penn Highlands Healthcare—Gregory P. Bauer

 Standard Statewide second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge, ambulatory/outpatient procedure, and inpatient and outpatient revenue code detail datasets. Penn Highlands Healthcare's consultant, DataBay Resources, will use the data to develop market share reports for Penn Highlands Healthcare to use the information in preparation of strategic plans as well as in the development of physician recruitment plans for Penn Highlands Healthcare.

Penn State Harrisburg—Patria de Lancer Julnes

 A custom 2006 through 2017 inpatient discharge dataset of patients with heart failure and Medicare as the payer with pre and post records and associated lab values linked with Department mortality data files with derived fields (number of days to next admission, discharge, and death) to be used for a study, Efficiency for What? The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program and Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Heart Failure Readmission and Mortality Outcomes. The study will examine whether the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program disproportionately affects readmission and mortality outcomes among minority and underserved patients hospitalized with heart failure.

Penn State Hershey Health System—Julie Eisenhauer

 Standard regional 2011 through first quarter 2017 ambulatory/outpatient procedure dataset for Regions 1, 2 and 3 and standard Statewide second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets. The data will be loaded into Advisory Board Market Innovation Center to provide Penn State Health with analysis of utilization, disease and procedure incidence, market analysis and strategic planning for the improvement of health care services provided by Penn State Health. Reports created from the data may be shared with outside counsel/consultants as part of the strategic planning process.

Pennsylvania Department of Aging—Thomas Snedden

 Custom 2014 through first quarter 2017 inpatient discharge dataset with derived fields (number of days to admission and discharge) for patients who were enrolled in Pharmaceutical Contact for the Elderly (PACE). The data will be used to research health outcomes of prescription drug use in the elderly and will be used by researchers at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia to study medication nonadherence outcomes for PACE elderly with diabetes.

Pennsylvania Department of Health—Arlene G. Seid, MD

 A modification to previous data requests for additional data of a custom second quarter 2016 through first quarter 2017 ambulatory/outpatient procedure data report on the number of procedures performed at ASCs to inform decisions for requests for exception to ambulatory surgical regulations received by the Department.

Pennsylvania Department of Health—Josh Goodling

 Custom 2012 through first quarter 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure data reports for the number of infant, children and adolescent cases by injury (falls and interpersonal violence), age group, year and quarter to be used for part of the Child Safety Collaborative Innovation and Improvement Network (CS CoIIN) reporting requirements, which develop and implement programs to reduce fatal and serious injuries among infants, children and adolescents in this Commonwealth. The information will be used to meet goals of the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant, which focus on preventing injuries of children and adolescents. Rates will be calculated using the information and posted onto the CS CoIIN web site.

Pennsylvania Department of Health—Lauren Hughes, MD

 Custom 2015 through first quarter 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure data reports will be used for the Department Pennsylvania Rural Health Model project, which is to inform health innovation in rural areas of this Commonwealth.

Pennsylvania Department of Health—Patrick Keating

 Standard 2017 inpatient discharge dataset. The Department will use the data to report and disseminate statistics for the Violence and Injury Prevention Program (VIPP), Asthma Control Program, Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) and Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP). VIPP will identify groups at high risk for injury, types and causes of injury, and effective injury prevention for planning and evaluation strategies; produce injury reports; respond to requests for injury data; and disseminate on the Department's EDDIE system. The Asthma Control Program will report data in facts sheets and monographs. The PDMP will create statistical reports, fulfill grant requirements, monitor program progress, identify needs, evaluate the impact of drug overdose prevention activities, respond to requests for data; develop opioid-related indicators required by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Prevention for States grant to intend to help combat the ongoing prescription drug overdose epidemic; report morbidity indicators required by CDC Enhanced State Surveillance of Opioid-Involved Morbidity and Mortality grant to prevent opioid-involved overdoses and improve multi-state surveillance of and response to opioid-involved overdoses; validate and identify health care facilities to integrate their electronic health record with the PDMP system for the CDC Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention Supplemental grant; and create reports for the Interactive Data Report. The DDAP will report the number of opioid overdose-related hospital admissions for the Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drugs grant.

Pennsylvania Department of Health—Patrick Mitchell

 Custom 2009 through second quarter 2017 ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets will be used to assess bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) instillation treatment complication rates and determine whether there have been trends in BCG instillation practices that correspond to disseminated BCG infection. The results will help determine whether there is a broader public health problem requiring further investigation.

Pennsylvania Department of Health—Ralph H. Beishline

 Standard Statewide 2012 through third quarter 2017 inpatient discharge dataset. The Department will use the data for the DDAP. The DDAP will prepare tables to include in the final evaluation report for the Strategic Planning Framework—Partnerships for Success grant for the DDAP. Alcohol-related and prescription drug overdose/poisoning related hospitalizations among the 12—25 age group in Blair, Bucks, Delaware, Lackawanna and Westmoreland Counties will be evaluated.

Pennsylvania Department of Health—Sameh Boktor, MD, MPH

 Custom third quarter 2000 through second quarter 2017 Statewide inpatient discharge datasets with derived fields (admission) to be used to study trends in influenza associated hospitalizations in this Commonwealth. The analyses will be used to understand the aspect of the public health burden of influenza and to prepare for future seasons, including possible pandemics. As part of a CDC grant, summary findings will be shared with partners for planning and preparedness and to raise awareness about influenza and its public health impact. Findings that may be of public health significance may be shared with the public health community through publishing articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Pennsylvania Department of Health—Zhen-qiang Ma

 Standard Statewide 2015 through 2016 inpatient discharge datasets to be used to analyze chronic disease burden and associated risk factors including environmental issues in this Commonwealth.

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services—Mara Perez

 Custom 2016 inpatient discharge data report for the number of Medicaid days and discharges by zip code and hospital. The Department of Human Services (DHS) will use the data to validate an analysis provided by a hospital industry representative.

 Custom third quarter 2015 through second quarter 2016 ambulatory/outpatient procedure data report for the number of Medicaid cases by zip code and facility. DHS will use the data for the Statewide assessment program.

 Custom third quarter 2015 through second quarter 2016 inpatient discharge dataset from the corrected self-pay database and 2014 through 2016 financial data of the 3-year average percent of uncompensated care to be used to compute payments to hospitals for the Hospital Uncompensated Care and Extraordinary Expense programs established under the Tobacco Settlement Act of 2001.

 Custom third quarter 2015 through second quarter 2016 inpatient discharge dataset of records with a major diagnostic category 14 or 15 from general acute care hospitals to be used to calculate payments to hospitals for obstetrical and neonate services.

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services—Nicholas Platt

 Custom 2012 through 2016 financial data report of hospital's net patient revenue, days, discharges and visits distribution by payer. DHS will use the data for the Statewide and Philadelphia Hospital Assessment programs.

 Custom 2016 financial data report by ASC of business entity information, visits and net patient revenue distribution by payer, and statement of operations information. DHS requested ASC data to evaluate potential Medical Assistance program initiatives.

Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General—Jo Anne Walchak

 Standard Statewide third quarter 2016 through second quarter 2017 inpatient discharge dataset to be used to review the data that will be used to calculate Tobacco Settlement entitlements to hospitals in this Commonwealth prior to the DHS's calculation of the payment amounts. They will review data that will be provided to DHS for use in making Uncompensated Care Tobacco Fund payments in 2019.

Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General—Kari Larsen

 Custom 2008 through 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure data reports for the number of firearm injury admissions and visits to hospitals in this Commonwealth and ASCs by insurance type. The data was to be used to explore, as comprehensively as possible, how much firearm injuries cost both financially and in terms of resources for a Commonwealth gun laws project. The information was to be used to explore factors that inform misuse of guns, what those effects are on public resources and communities, what parties address the misuse of guns before and after those effects can manifest, how the current law does and does not inhibit the misuse of guns, how that law is and is not being enforced, and what technological advancements are being developed to inhibit the misuse of guns.

Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General—Tracy W. Wertz

 Standard Statewide second quarter through fourth quarter 2017 inpatient discharge, ambulatory/outpatient procedure, inpatient and ambulatory/outpatient revenue code detail datasets, and 2017 financial data report to be used for review of hospital mergers to ensure that the mergers are in compliance with antitrust laws. These data will also be shared with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to be used for hospital merger investigations that are conducted jointly with the FTC.

Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority—Ed Finley

 A custom 2008 through 2017 ambulatory/outpatient procedure data report for the number of cases at ASCs by gender and age groups to be used to write an article for the Patient Safety Authority's (PSA) peer-reviewed journal, Advisory. The article will analyze reports of death following ambulatory surgery.

Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority—Howard Newstadt

 A custom second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 hospital data report to be used by the PSA in combination with the PSA's PA-PSRS data (medical error report) to produce facility specific and aggregate medical error rate data to improve the PSA's analytic capabilities, thereby supporting the PSA's overall mission.

Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority—Lynette Hathaway

 A custom 2005 through 2017 ambulatory/outpatient procedure data report for the number of cataract and eye surgical procedure cases to be used to determine annual rates of reported infections to be analyzed and reported in future PSA publication.

Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority—Michelle Bell

 Custom 2017 ambulatory/outpatient procedure data report for the number of surgical procedures performed at ASCs to be used by the PSA in combination with the PSA's PA-PSRS (medical error report) to calculate the number of error reports by each facility.

Philadelphia Department of Public Health—Raynard Washington, PhD, MPH

 Standard regional second quarter 2017 through fourth quarter 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets for Regions 8 and 9 to be used for a variety of analyses that allow tracking of diseases. Data are used for the evaluation of trends in services, estimated cost and outcomes for HIV, diabetes, asthma, hypertension, cancer screening, violence-related injuries, influenza-like illness, pelvic inflammatory disease, and, if any, emerging infectious diseases, and the like, for research and policy planning. The data will be used to examine high-risk pregnancies and ongoing research into birth outcomes for needs assessment activities for both Health Start and Title V. The data is also used to evaluate the HIV/AIDS surveillance system and as part of Ryan White Part A.

Public Health Management Corporation—Ellen Bryer

 Custom third quarter 2014 through second quarter 2017 inpatient discharge data reports for the number of pediatric cases diagnosed with asthma by zip code and county and hospitalization rates of the population by county. The data reports will be used to support a Statewide needs assessment related to pediatric asthma and presented in an online map available to Statewide asthma partners.

Reading Hospital and Medical Center—Daniel Ahern

 Standard Statewide second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge, ambulatory/outpatient procedure, and inpatient and outpatient revenue code detail datasets to be used to track historic volumes and market shares in Reading Hospital's system area and other areas will be examined for potential expansion of services. The data will be utilized through DataBay's user-friendly tool to identify trends and analyze market activity by payer mix, patient age mix and service line distribution.

Renzi Podiatry/Save Your Soles Campaign—Ronald M. Renzi, DPM

 Custom 2010 through 2016 inpatient discharge datasets for patients with a diabetic foot infection condition who reside in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery or Philadelphia Counties or reside in Region 1 or 7 and custom 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets for patients who suffer lower extremity amputation and reside in Region 8 or 9. The data will be used for the Save Your Soles Campaign program sponsored by Abington Memorial Hospital Innovators Foundation, which is to reduce amputations in the Philadelphia area. The number of diabetic foot infections will be determined by county and zip code, to locate areas with high volumes and to track patients with risk factors for amputation to evaluate prevention strategies. The information will be used to track incidence of lower extremity amputations in the region and evaluate prevention strategies.

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania—James A. Tomkins

 A custom 2017 inpatient discharge data report of the number of days and discharges by hospital, patient zip code and payer. The data was to be used for calculating a weighted average Community Needs Index for each hospital to be used for internal analysis on behalf of Safety-Net Association hospitals.

SG-2, LLC—Tanya Chin-Fatt

 Standard Statewide second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge dataset to be used in an online platform, applications and desktop tools, and summary reports. The data will be used in SG-2's Market Forecast and State Data Analysis Tool software that was developed to support their client hospitals' long and short term operational and strategic planning efforts. These tools enable their clients to develop 10-year health services demand forecasts by clinical area and geography, to provide them with the ability to project and meet future demands by determining the appropriate allocation of resources and to improve both the quality and availability of health care in the communities they serve.

Shouldice Hospital—John Hughes

 A custom 2017 through first quarter 2018 ambulatory/outpatient procedure data report of hernia repair procedures to be used to analyze utilization hernia repair trends in this Commonwealth by region and facility type, analyze resident and non-resident, including out of state hernia repairs rendered to health care beneficiaries to assess market trends by region and facility type, review utilization trends and costs per episode of hernia repair by beneficiary demographics, and identify possible locations to set up Shouldice Hospital within this Commonwealth.

St. Luke's University Health Network—Amanda Mazza

 Standard Statewide 2017 inpatient discharge dataset to be used for internal use to analyze inpatient market share and trends.

Summit Health

 Standard Statewide 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets to be used to review trends and monitor their market share and analyze their service lines.

SUNY Upstate Medical University—Anna Gleboff

 A custom 2014 through 2016 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure data report of Geisinger Medical Centers' pediatric cases who reside in Broome, Chenango, Delaware or Tioga Counties in New York or Bradford, Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike or Monroe County to be used to evaluate pediatric patient hospital care in an effort for Golisano Children's Hospital to better serve the best level of care to pediatric patients in all central New York counties and to help these patients achieve the highest quality of care without the need for excessive travel.

Temple University College of Public Health—Michael Halpern

 Standard 2014 through 2016 regional inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets for Regions 8 and 9, and Statewide inpatient and outpatient revenue code detail datasets to be linked with ARF data and use the data to study the difference in patient characteristics and outcomes for inpatient admissions and ambulatory/outpatient procedures at Temple University Hospital and other hospitals in the Philadelphia area, and disparities in costs and outcomes for individuals receiving care at Temple University Hospital.

The Children's Home of Pittsburgh—Kimberly A. Phillips

 A custom 2016 through first quarter 2017 inpatient discharge dataset of cases with select diagnosis and readmission records within 180 days of discharge with derived fields (number of days from previous record) will be used, with assistance from DeBrunner & Associates, to evaluate the characteristics of discharges and readmissions at other hospitals of claims similar to those seen at the Children's Home of Pittsburgh.

The Pulmonary Institute of Redstone—Nicholas Kozinko

 Standard regional third quarter 2016 through third quarter 2017 inpatient discharge datasets for Region 1 and 3 to be used for a Ventilator Nursing Facility Feasibility Analysis project that will explore the potential for ''ventilator-specific'' long-term care beds in western Pennsylvania. The information garnered in the reports will be used for outlining and assessing the need for specialized nursing facilities in various areas.

Thomas Jefferson University/1889 Jefferson Center for Population Health—Marquita Decker-Palmer/Trina Thompson, PhD

 Standard Statewide 2015 through 2016 inpatient discharge and inpatient revenue code detail datasets to be used for a study, The Impact of Type II Diabetes on Healthcare Utilization in Rural and Urban Pennsylvania, which aims to improve the health of people in Cambria and Somerset Counties by improving diabetes prevention and control.

Truven Health Analytics—Katherine Blumhardt

 Standard Statewide second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets to process, standardize and distribute different types of data and statistical analyses to its clients (hospitals, health networks, government agencies, health care providers, payers, consultants, vendors, researchers and the like) through proprietary decision tools, benchmark databases, research, custom studies and other associated products by Internet or PC/CD based, which provide utilization market share, service demand, outcome indicators, assistance in resource allocation and in evaluating benefit plans.

University of Pennsylvania—Brian Bayes

 A modification to a previous request for a revised custom 2013 through 2016 inpatient discharge dataset of patients enrolled in a random controlled trial linked with the Department's mortality data (2014—2016) with derived fields (ICU indicator, number of days in an ICU stay, number of days to admission and number of days to death). The data will be used for a study, Default Options in Advance Directives, which will determine the relationship between study group assignment and days hospitalized, longevity and specific treatments received, among other outcomes.

University of Pennsylvania—Dan Polsky

 Standard Statewide second quarter 2015 through first quarter 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets to be used for a research project, Smarter Big Data for a Healthy Pennsylvania: Changing the Paradigm of Healthcare, which is focused to improve the health of Pennsylvanians at an individual, community and population level by changing the paradigm of medical care and health care delivery to predicting and preventing onset, exacerbation and advancement of disease, and to train minority students in research. The data will be used to provide complementary information to the other combined administrative claims, medical record data, wearable monitor data and social media data that is used to predict clinical events in the hospital, home and community. The data will also be used to measure changes in utilization in both inpatient and outpatient setting.

University of Pennsylvania—Lindsey Patterson

 Standard regional 2008 through 2013 inpatient discharge datasets for Region 9 to be used for a research study, The Economics of Care Regionalization. The data will be merged with Philadelphia Fire Department Emergency Medical Services (EMS) information to study the impact of the EMS destination policy that took effect on October 2011, which requires EMS providers to transport acute stroke patients to the closest primary stroke center. The policy's impact on clinical and cost outcomes for stroke patients will be examined.

University of Pennsylvania—Matthew L. Williams, MD

 A custom fourth quarter 2004 through second quarter 2016 inpatient discharge dataset and third quarter 2011 through second quarter 2016 CABG risk models linked with Department mortality data files (2005—2015) with derived fields (number of days to admission and death) to use for a research study, Examination of Readmissions after Cardiac Surgery in Pennsylvania: Development of Risk Models with Clinical Relevance, which will seek to improve upon previously reported prediction models through examination of cause-specific readmissions and to define high-risk populations in whom targeted strategies to prevent readmission can be efficiently implemented.

University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing—Rachel Kelz

 A modification to a previous request for standard Statewide 2014 and 2017 inpatient discharge datasets and re-use 2012 and 2013 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets to use for a study, Surgical Provider Characteristics Using Patient Outcomes, which will identify provider factors that lead to variations in surgical patient outcomes across both inpatient and outpatient settings. The data will be combined with other states data and linked with the American Medical Association Masterfile from the American Medical Association and Hospital Compare from CMS to gain a better understanding of the unique contributions of each provider characteristic that will assist providers with their quality improvement initiatives and hiring decisions. They will evaluate the association between provider characteristics (surgeon descriptors and residency program, hospital descriptors) and clinical outcomes (mortality, complications, prolonged length of stay and failure to rescue) and the association between provider characteristics and financial outcomes (length of stay, total cost of hospitalization and discharge status).

University of Pittsburgh—Janet K. Freburger, PT, PhD

 Standard Statewide fourth quarter 2016 through third quarter 2017 inpatient discharge and inpatient revenue code detail datasets and 2016 financial data to be linked at the zip code level to Census data and/or at the county level to area health resource data to examine the extent to which there are disparities in the use of rehabilitation during an acute care stay and outcomes in regard to discharge status and length of stay. These data will be used as pilot data for a grant application.

University of Pittsburgh—Parthasarathy D. Thirumala, MD

 A custom 2012 through 2014 inpatient discharge dataset of adult cases with a surgical procedure linked to the Department's mortality data files (2012—2015) to be used for a research study, Cause-specific mortality after surgical procedures: Statewide inpatient databases study, which will research the possible causes of morbidity and mortality after surgical procedures.

University of Pittsburgh—Richard K. Zimmerman, MD, MPH

 A custom third quarter 2015 through 2017 inpatient discharge data report for the number of hospitalization admissions of patients who reside in Allegheny County by modified quarter, hospital, age group, race and condition (acute respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, asthma and congestive heart failure). The data will be used for CDC sponsored study, US Hospitalized Adult Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network (HAIVEN). The data will be used to determine the population-based incidence of various respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations within Allegheny County by season, virus type, year and age group and will be provided to the CDC to calculate the multi-site incidence to inform public health policy and the CDC will use the aggregate data for other publications related to the project. The CDC will combine the results from Allegheny County with three other sites in the country to create an overall estimate for the country of respiratory hospitalization incidence.

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center—Matthew W. Michaels

 Standard Statewide second quarter 2017 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets to use for various research reports including: patient origin for University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) hospitals, UPMC market share in various geographies and for various service lines, utilization trends in volume and market share over different time periods, and physician volumes at UPMC and other hospitals.

University of Virginia Medical Center—Joel Spring

 Standard facility second quarter 2017 through third quarter 2017 inpatient discharge dataset for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC to monitor volume and description of Virginia pediatric residents receiving care at these two hospitals to help determine where there may be gaps in services provided in Virginia.

UPMC Susquehanna Health—Brian Engel/Emily Zangara

 Standard regional second quarter 2017 through fourth quarter 2017 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets for Regions 2—6 to be loaded into a Customer Relationship Management database that Healthgrades hosts and maintains on behalf of UPMC Susquehanna. Healthgrades will use the information for the purpose of reporting market share and trend analysis to UPMC Susquehanna.

USA Today—Christopher Schnaars

 A custom 2014 through 2017 inpatient discharge data report for the number of deliveries and the incidence of severe maternal morbidity by hospital to be used for a maternal health project that will be analyzed and rates published in USA Today, other Gannett papers and their web sites.

WellSpan Health—David Kimpel

 Standard Statewide 2016 through first quarter 2018 inpatient discharge and ambulatory/outpatient procedure datasets to be used for an internal assessment of the delivery of health care services within the region WellSpan Health serves and beyond for comparative purposes. Service area utilization and analysis are the primary purpose for obtaining the data.

Yale School of Public Health—Henry G. Dove, PhD

 Standard Statewide 2016 inpatient discharge, ambulatory/outpatient procedure, and inpatient and outpatient revenue code detail datasets and financial data report to use for a Practicum class at the Health Management Program in the School of Public Health at Yale University. As part of the Practicum, the students will produce various data analysis reports for an organization with a public health component.

JOE MARTIN, 
Executive Director

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 19-436. Filed for public inspection March 22, 2019, 9:00 a.m.]



No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.

This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.