Realizing the Potential of All-Payer Claims Databases

States and regional collaboratives are moving ahead with creating all-payer claims databases (APCDs) to support health system measurement and improvement activities. While aggregated claims databases provide an unprecedented view of care across all settings, the process of collecting claims information alone does not improve health care quality or reduce costs. To effectively utilize the APCD and realize its full potential, states have begun to produce reports and analyses based on APCD data—a task requiring careful consideration and planning that has yielded many important lessons. This paper examines the critical components of states’ APCD reporting efforts to date and suggests essential steps to creating credible and robust analytics.