CMS has awarded San Francisco-based consumer healthcare startup Amino with Qualified Entity Status, making it the first for-profit company to have total access to national physician-level claims data for Medicare parts A, B and D.
Amino's database, which already comprises more than 5 billion healthcare interactions representing 188 million Americans, will expand further to include the CMS claims. This database is the backbone of Amino's free consumer service, geared toward enabling users to make more informed decisions about their care.
"People have been in the dark far too long when it comes healthcare quality, outcomes, and cost, yet they are being forced to make high-stakes healthcare decisions more than ever," David Vivero, CEO and co-founder of Amino, said in a statement. "We created Amino to make valuable healthcare information accessible to everyone, with a mission that aligns greatly with the QE Program's emphasis on transparency and consumer empowerment. With access to the full picture of the Medicare community's experiences, we'll be able to build on our industry-leading database and, for the first time ever, give people an unprecedented resource for navigating health care throughout their lifetimes."
In order to achieve QE status and gain CMS approval to the vast collection of patient data, Amino was required to implement the highest levels of privacy measures and data security. Beyond making the healthcare insights accessible to users of their platform, Amino has convened a committee of stakeholders representing payers, patients and providers, among others, that will review and endorse quality-of-care measures using the commercial and Medicare data.