TAF Analysis Reporting Checklist
The TAF Checklist guides researchers in reporting their TAF-based studies clearly and transparently.
What is the TAF Checklist?
The T-MSIS Analytic Files (TAF) data are highly complex, with varying quality across data elements and states, which requires a systematic and transparent approach to analysis. In recognition of these challenges, the Medicaid Data Learning Network (MDLN) developed a TAF Analysis Reporting Checklist which recommends a series of items that should be reported in analyses using these data to ensure that TAF-derived research is both high quality and reproducible. As the TAF data become more widely used among health services researchers, ensuring the completeness and reproducibility of these analyses is critical for safeguarding the quality of research used to inform Medicaid policy.
How Should the TAF Checklist Be Used?
The TAF Analysis Reporting Checklist includes reporting recommendations for TAF-based analyses. Authors of TAF-based research should indicate whether they followed the checklist in their manuscripts; a table in the supplementary material may be helpful to indicate whether and how the authors complied with each recommendation. Checklist items are recommendations, not prescriptions, and can be adapted to different study designs. Not all checklist items will apply to all studies.
The TAF Analysis Reporting Checklist is not meant to be a substitute for broader reporting checklists (eg, the STROBE reporting guideline for observational research or the RECORD reporting guideline for research using routinely collected health data). Rather, it is meant to complement those resources with guidance on TAF-specific methodological considerations.
You can find the manuscript detailing the development of the TAF Analysis Reporting Checklist in JAMA Health Forum.
To cite: Schpero WL, McConnell KJ, Bushnell G, Denham A, Dow PM, Kapadia SN, Lindner SR, Samples H, Shea L, Watson K, Gordon SH. The T-MSIS Analytic Files (TAF) Analysis Reporting Checklist: A Guide for Research Using Medicaid Claims Data. JAMA Health Forum. 2025;6(10):e253622.
Questions or comments?
If you have questions or comments about the TAF Checklist, please email Zoe D’Angelo.