Contact: Nicole Napoli, nnapoli@acc.org, 202-375-6523

WASHINGTON (Mar 11, 2020) -

The American College of Cardiology will be collaborating with the nonprofit organization FAIR Health to bring together NCDR registry clinical measures and insights from FAIR Health claims data to create a comprehensive full value equation benchmarking tool.

Increasingly, today’s health care environment calls for a value-based approach that looks at both cost and quality as part of the health care value equation. Hospitals, medical practices, and health systems need tools that address strategic, operational, financial and other non-clinical factors to accurately assess cost and value.

“A value-based approach to health care requires that you offer not only the highest-quality care at the lowest possible cost but also using the lowest possible consumption of resources,” said ACC CEO Timothy W. Attebery, DSc, MBA, FACHE. “As part of this FAIR Health collaboration, ACC will be able to better understand what it truly costs to manage a patient’s care, leading to higher quality and more efficient care.”

ACC and FAIR Health each contribute important parts to the value equation. For the past 20 years, the ACC has developed and managed the NCDR suite of registries to identify, track, and compare trends and gaps in cardiovascular care for the betterment of patient outcomes. For the past decade, FAIR Health has maintained an independent database of privately billed health insurance claims. Combining quality measures from NCDR with analytics building upon cost data from FAIR Health will yield unique analytic insights that create a comprehensive picture of value that will support cardiovascular clinicians and hospitals in working with payers to bring high-quality, cost-effective care to patients.

“Given FAIR Health’s commitment to bringing transparency and integrity to health insurance information, and shedding light on all corners of the healthcare system, we are delighted to assist ACC in this initiative seeking to add greater visibility into value and cost questions involving certain cardiac procedures,” said Robin Gelburd, president of FAIR Health.

The collaboration with FAIR Health will initially focus on episodes of care for PCI patients. No patient data will be shared by either organization as part of the initiative.

“By combining quality data from NCDR with FAIR Health analytics drawn from its comprehensive cost data, this collaboration will enable NCDR hospitals to understand and measure the value of cardiovascular care they provide,” said Steven M. Bradley, MD, MPH, FACC, co-chair of the NCDR Cost Data Workgroup. “A better understanding of value will help clinicians and hospitals improve cardiovascular care, leading to optimal outcomes for patients.”

The American College of Cardiology envisions a world where innovation and knowledge optimize cardiovascular care and outcomes. As the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team, the mission of the College and its 54,000 members is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC bestows credentials upon cardiovascular professionals who meet stringent qualifications and leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College also provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research through its world-renowned JACC Journals, operates national registries to measure and improve care, and offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions. For more, visit acc.org.

About FAIR Health

FAIR Health, a national, independent nonprofit organization that qualifies as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, is dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation’s largest collection of private healthcare claims data, which includes over 30 billion claim records contributed by payors and administrators who insure or process claims for private insurance plans covering more than 150 million individuals. FAIR Health licenses its privately billed data and data products—including benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics and market indices—to commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a national Qualified Entity, FAIR Health also receives data representing the experience of all individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D; FAIR Health houses data on Medicare Advantage enrollees in its private claims data repository. FAIR Health can produce insightful analytic reports and data products based on combined Medicare and commercial claims data for government, providers, payors and other authorized users. FAIR Health’s systems for processing and storing protected health information have earned HITRUST CSF certification and achieved AICPA SOC 2 compliance by meeting the rigorous data security requirements of these standards. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers’ compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish and an English/Spanish mobile app, which enable consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenditures and offer a rich educational platform on health insurance. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. FAIR Health also is named a top resource for patients in Dr. Marty Makary’s book The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care—and How to Fix It and Elisabeth Rosenthal’s book An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.

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