Blue Cross Blue Shield Association partnered with a group of academic medical centers to improve university researchers' access to commercial insurance claims data.
The initiative — called the Blue Cross Blue Shield Alliance for Health Research — provides healthcare researchers de-identified claims data to facilitate the academic study of today's pressing health concerns.
The program launch will include three initial research studies.
Michael Chernew, PhD, at HarvardMedicalSchool will explore patterns of pain management across provider groups in America.
Cary Gross, MD, at YaleUniversity will study the evolution of cancer screening tests during the past decade and the clinical and economic impact of these changes.
Nathan Wineinger, PhD, and Steven Steinhubl, MD, will research the variation in biologic use across geographic locations and over time.