Using Monthly CMS VRDC Data to Answer Complex Healthcare Questions
Health Management Associates (HMA) combines Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Virtual Research Data Center (VRDC) data with Medicare, healthcare policy and analytics expertise to help organizations understand patient populations, utilization, treatment trends and market dynamics. Access 100 percent Medicare Parts A and B fee-for-service claims, including inpatient, outpatient, physician/carrier, and durable medical equipment (DME) data, with monthly updates. We also provide access to Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment data and monthly Part D pharmacy claims data.
What Are CMS VRDC Data?
The CMS VRDC is a secure research environment for approved analysis of Medicare and Medicaid data. HMA uses monthly VRDC data to evaluate healthcare utilization, outcomes, prescribing patterns, population trends, and policy impacts.
Medicare Data HMA Can Analyze
Medicare Fee-for-Service Claims
Monthly Medicare Parts A and B claims support analysis of inpatient, outpatient, skilled nursing, hospice and home health services, including utilization, treatment adoption, switching behavior, and site-of-service trends.
Medicare Part D Pharmacy Data
Monthly Part D data provide insights into drug utilization, prescribing patterns, adherence, dosing, and product waste.
Medicare Enrollment and MA Data
Enrollment and membership data help organizations understand eligible populations, geographic variation, market growth, and MA member dynamics.
Post-Acute Care and Other CMS Datasets
HMA can use post-acute care and other CMS datasets to analyze patient journeys, outcomes, cost drivers, payment reforms and policy impacts.
Questions Medicare Data Analytics Can Answer
- How are treatment patterns changing?
- Which providers and regions are driving product adoption?
- What is the impact of a coverage, policy, or reimbursement change?
- How do patients move across care settings?
- What factors drive cost and utilization?
- How do outcomes differ across populations?
- What evidence can support payer, HTA, or value-based care strategies?
From Data to Decisions: The HMA Difference
HMA combines analytics with nationally recognized expertise in Medicare, Medicaid, healthcare financing, payment policy and care delivery. Our team interprets the findings and connects them to real-world decisions. HMA delivers aggregated analysis and strategic insight, not just data processing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can Medicare claims data be used for?
Medicare claims data can support analysis of utilization, treatment patterns, prescribing behavior, outcomes, costs, market trends and policy or reimbursement changes.
Can VRDC data support real-world evidence studies?
Yes. HMA uses VRDC data to support real-world evidence, patient journey analysis, outcomes research, and other evidence-generation activities.
How current are the data?
Medicare fee-for-service claims, Part D pharmacy data, and enrollment information are updated monthly. MA medical encounter data are available on a longer reporting lag.
Learn how Medicare data analytics and CMS VRDC data can help answer your organization’s most important healthcare questions.
Request a Medicare Data Briefing
