This session engages participants in a discussion about the importance of health services research in helping to optimize the rigor, relevance, and real-time nature of knowledge generation. Panelists review some of the important characteristics that have helped to shape the field of HSR thus far, and discuss the ways in which emerging data trends may lead to a substantial shift in its methods and conduct.
As one of the primary sources of information on health services use, claims data are fundamental to health services research. This three-part webinar series on the recently developed Medicare Claims Public Use Files (PUF) provides a unique opportunity to explore an important new data resource. The series will be taught by senior managers and researchers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and Impaq International. Webinars will provide an overview of the files, offer analytic examples to highlight potential uses, and discuss privacy and confidentiality issues that are important to understanding the opportunities and challenges of PUFs.