Notice of Public Data Asset Release Under the Open, Public, Electronic, and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is releasing several Medicare and Medicaid datasets containing utilization and payment information aggregated by provider and service. These include data on Original Medicare physicians and practitioners, inpatient and outpatient hospitals, Part D prescribers, durable medical equipment by referring provider and supplier, and Medicaid provider spending. The data will be published in open, machine-readable formats under an open license to promote transparency, support public efforts to identify fraud, waste, and abuse, and enhance accountability. CMS states that the datasets have been de-identified with disclosure avoidance techniques applied, do not contain protected health information, trade secrets, or confidential commercial data, and comply with HIPAA, the 21st Century Cures Act, and 42 CFR Part 2. This action follows the Calendar Year 2026 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System final rule and fulfills requirements of the OPEN Government Data Act.
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Key Changes
- Release of 6 specific Medicare and Medicaid utilization and payment datasets aggregated by provider and service
- Data to be published in open, machine-readable formats under an open license
- Datasets include Original Medicare Physician, Inpatient Hospital, Outpatient Hospital, Part D Prescribers, DMEPOS (by referring provider and supplier), and Medicaid Provider Spending
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Obligations
What this law requires
CMS must make public data assets available in open, machine-readable formats under an open license consistent with the OPEN Government Data Act
CMS must ensure released datasets are de-identified and appropriately limited to mitigate risk of re-identification before public release
CMS must apply disclosure avoidance techniques to Medicaid managed care payment data elements prior to release
CMS must evaluate datasets for compliance with HIPAA privacy protections before releasing public data assets
CMS must verify that released datasets do not disclose protected trade secrets or confidential commercial information