The Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) December Health Care Payments Data Program (HPD) Quarterly Newsletter is designed to keep stakeholders informed on programmatic updates and ongoing stakeholder engagement.
HPD Program Updates
Public Reporting
HCAI is excited to share that the HPD Program has released its second public report. The Healthcare Measures Report presents a series of visualizations that allow users to explore the care and characteristics of Californians using data collected by the HPD Program. The visualizations include data from 2018 to 2021 and cover three measurement categories: health conditions, utilization, and demographics. The health conditions measurements quantify the prevalence of long-term illnesses and major medical events, such as diabetes, asthma, and heart failure, in California’s communities. Utilization measures present rates of healthcare system use through visits to the emergency department and different categories of inpatient stays, such as maternity or surgical stays. The demographic measures describe the health coverage and other characteristics (e.g., age group) of the Californians included in the data.
At the October HPD Advisory Committee meeting, HCAI received feedback for 2024 public reporting priorities. The feedback focused on three HCAI-proposed topics for reporting in 2024: (1) social drivers of health and health equity, (2) further enhancement of the planned report on prescription drug costs, and (3) reporting on hospital costs. Additionally, the Advisory Committee advised HCAI to further expand and improve across new and existing reports in 2024 and beyond, particularly in the areas of (a) Utilization and Cost of Services and (b) Sub Populations and Geographies. More information is available in the meeting materials from the October 2023 meeting.
HCAI anticipates continuing to advance the accessibility and usefulness of HPD public reports as the database becomes more comprehensive and complete and HCAI builds its capacity over time.
HPD Program Registration for 2024
Plan registration will take place during the month of January and must be completed by the last calendar day of the month. Submitter registration will take place during the month of February and must be completed by the last calendar day of the month. In addition to the annual registration requirement, submitters are also required to update registration information whenever there is a change to their organizational information, organization’s contacts, or HPD-related responsibilities of those contacts.
For dental plans and submitters that are registering for the first time, registration must be completed by March 29, 2024.
Upcoming Trainings for Health and Dental Plan Data Collection
The HPD Program will be hosting webinar trainings to prepare both health and dental plans and submitters on various topics, including the transition to the APCD-CDLTM version 3.0.1, the opening of the 2024 annual HPD Program registration period, and implementation of dental plan submissions. An overview of the upcoming trainings is provided below. Additional information including how to register for each training will be forthcoming. Please reach out to hpd@hcai.ca.gov with any questions on the upcoming training opportunities.
Annual HPD Submitter Registration
- Topic: Introduction to the annual HPD submitter registration process.
- Date: January 4, 2024
- Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. PST
- Register to attend meeting here.
Dental Data Overview & Implementation
- Topics: Overview of dental data and the APCD-CDLTM version 3.0.1 and next steps for existing and new HPD submitters.
- Date: January 11, 2024, during the HPD Submitter Group Meeting
- Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. PST
- Register to attend meeting here.
HPD Dental Submitters Onboarding Training Series
- Topics: Introduction to Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption and Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), overview and demonstration of the Onpoint Claims Data Manager (CDM) data collection portal, and overview of the Onpoint CDM variance request process and data submission best practices.
- Dates:
- February 5, 2024, 1:00pm -2:00pm PST Register to attend here.
- February 22, 2024, 10:00am – 11:00am PST Register to attend here.
- March 4, 2024, 1:00pm – 2:00pm PST Register to attend here.
HPD System Monthly Data File Submissions
The HPD Program is continuing to process ongoing monthly data file submissions from health plans and insurers and is requesting data submitters to submit earlier in the month whenever possible. Data submitters are encouraged to reach out to the HCAI team if there are any concerns with meeting the reporting deadline for HPD. HCAI greatly appreciates the efforts of all data submitters in their timely submissions and those that have adjusted their submission schedules accordingly to meet HCAI’s request.
HCAI will be conducting ongoing and regular evaluation of data quality and completeness to support both public reporting and the release of non-public data. HCAI will submit a report to the Legislature including information on the quality and completeness of the database by March 1, 2024, which will include an assessment of the data that has been submitted and the percentage of the California population that is represented in the database.
Program Regulations
HCAI has been preparing the following two regulations packages for the HPD Program.
- HPD Program Data Release Regulations. The HPD Data Use, Access, and Release regulations first public comment period ended July 18, 2023. A second public comment period began December 18, 2023, and will end February 01, 2024.
- The proposed revisions are needed to effectuate the intent of the law by clarifying requirements that are necessary to allow the public and other state agencies to access and use HPD data for the benefit of Californians while protecting the privacy of Californians. The proposed revisions will also improve compliance with data application requirements, as well as improve overall program efficiency.
- Please refer to the HCAI Laws & Regulations website to review all rulemaking documents.
- HPD Program Data Collection Regulations. The Certificate of Compliance of the HPD Program Data Collection Regulations has been approved by the Office of Administrative Law, and the regulations are in effect as of November 17, 2023.
- The Certificate of Compliance makes permanent the December 2021 HPD Program emergency regulations that established procedures for health care data collection and submission. The permanent regulations text are posted at the California Code of Regulations Westlaw website.
- The Notice of Approval of Certificate of Compliance and all associated documents can be found on the HPD Program website under the “Laws and Regulations” section.
HPD Funding Report
In 2018, the California Legislature provided $60 million in one-time funding to establish the HPD Program. The HPD statute requires HCAI to submit a report to the Legislature on recommendations for long-term funding options for the Program. On February 28, 2023, HCAI submitted the required report to the Legislature, outlining the HPD Program’s accomplishments to-date, a plan for future spending, and recommendations on long-term program funding options. Read the full report on the Long Term Funding Options for the HPD Program.
Participation in National Workgroups
HCAI continues to participate in the APCD Council’s APCD-CDL™ Data Maintenance Request (DMR) workgroup. Additionally, work continues with the National Association of Health Data Organizations (NAHDO) and the APCD Council on development of a national standard data collection file format for collecting non-claims payment data is expected by summer 2024.
HPD Stakeholder Engagement
HPD Program Advisory Committee
The HPD Program Advisory Committee is comprised of health care stakeholders and experts to assist and advise the HCAI Director in formulating program policies regarding data collection, data management, data use, data access, and the development of public information to meet the goals of the HPD Program. The HPD Program Advisory Committee convenes quarterly, and below is information on the most recent and upcoming meetings.
Upcoming January Meeting
On January 25, 2024, HCAI is hosting the next HPD Advisory Committee Meeting from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (PST). The January HPD meeting will be held in a hybrid format where committee members and members of the public can attend in person, at the Sacramento office, or via Microsoft Teams. The meeting is expected to provide an initial discussion of draft recommendations to HCAI on approaches to maximize the use of HPD for public health purposes, and an update on the data quality and completeness report, which is due to the legislature by March 1, 2024. The agenda and all other meeting materials will be posted on the HPD Advisory Committee web page prior to the meeting.
Past Meeting
HCAI hosted the October Advisory Committee Meeting on October 26, 2023. The meeting focused on key topics such as data access and release updates, ongoing discussions on non-claims payment data from January, and the establishment of public reporting priorities for 2024. HCAI has incorporated feedback received by the Advisory Committee into draft non-claims payment regulation text. Materials specific to the non-claims payment discussion is available at the following link and all remaining meeting materials are available on the October HPD Advisory Committee Meeting web page.
HPD Data Release Committee
The Data Release Committee (DRC) is integral in supporting the implementation and administration of the HPD Program and advises HCAI on the release of HPD data. The DRC convened bi-monthly in 2023 but will move to monthly meetings in 2024 and once they begin reviewing applications for non-public data. Below is information on the most recent and upcoming meetings.
Upcoming January Meeting
On January 17, 2024, HCAI is hosting the next DRC Meeting. The meeting is anticipated to cover adoption of the DRC Board Manual as well as a follow up on the pricing schedule discussion started at the November meeting. The meeting will be held in person at the Los Angeles and Sacramento locations. Members of the public can attend in person or via Microsoft Teams. More information on how to attend the meeting will be shared closer to the meeting date. The agenda and all other meeting materials will be posted on the HPD DRC web page prior to the meeting.
Past Meetings
HCAI hosted quarterly DRC meetings in 2023. The September 5th meeting offered an overview of data quality and completeness, including for medical and pharmacy services, claims and encounter characteristics, race and ethnicity, and sexual orientation and gender identity, and a review of the draft DRC Board Manual. The November 7th meeting focused on the data release process including user fees, data use agreement, criteria for decision making, data request portal, and the research data enclave. Previous DRC meeting materials are available on the HPD DRC web page under the “Meetings Archive” section.
HPD Submitter Group
The HPD Program Submitter Group provides a forum for HPD Data Submitters to receive the latest information on submission requirements, troubleshoot data submissions, and address any other technical issues related to data submission. These meetings are intended for entities required to submit or are supporting the submission of data to the HPD System. The HPD Submitter Group convenes quarterly, and below is information on the most recent and upcoming meetings.
Upcoming January Meeting
The first HPD Submitter Group meeting of 2024 will be held on January 11th. Anticipated topics are the status of production file submissions, a review of the anticipated update on the APCD-CDLTM v3.0.1 transition, an overview of dental data, and next steps for existing and new HPD submitters. Additionally, HCAI will be providing an update to plans and submitters on the development of non-claims payment regulations and will be sending a follow-up survey to gather feedback afterwards.
The agenda and all other meeting materials will be posted on the HPD Program Submitters Group website prior to the meeting. Please register to attend the virtual meeting.
Past Meetings
The most recent HPD Program Submitter Group meeting was held on October 12, 2023, and focused on key program updates, production file submission status, data quality and completeness, and transition to the APCD-CDLTM version 3.0.1. View the presentation materials available at the HPD Submitter Group website here.
About the HPD Program
Assembly Bill 80 (Chapter 12, Statutes of 2020) provides HCAI the authority to establish the HPD Program. The HPD System is California’s All-Payer Claims Database, or APCD, and is intended to support greater health care cost transparency, inform policy decisions supporting quality health care, and reduce health care costs and disparities.
Watch the video below to learn more about the HPD Program. Also visit HCAI’s HPD Program website or email hpd@hcai.ca.gov for any questions. Subscribe to “Healthcare Payments Database News” to receive future newsletters if this newsletter was forwarded to you.
How does the HPD Collect and Report Data?
Watch this video and share it with your colleagues!
HPD Program Careers
Are you interested in joining the HCAI Team? Click below to watch for job opportunities coming soon to support the HPD Program:
