Oregon sought to improve the accessibility, utility, and overall management of the data in its large health insurance claims database.

Oregon’s All Payer All Claims database (APAC), which houses administrative health care data for Oregon’s insured populations, is a critical tool for measuring health care participation, quality, outcomes, and costs in the state. In managing the database, the Oregon Health Authority’s Office of Health Analytics is responsible for ensuring the data quality of millions of health care claims records as well as providing reliable, secure access to researchers and analysts working to improve health care statewide.

In 2019, the state identified a need to modernize the APAC’s data management platform and grow its analytical capabilities in hopes of accelerating data-driven insights about Oregon’s health care systems and policies.

NORC supports lead partner HSRI in integrating its robust data management solution for Oregon’s claims data.

Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) partnered with NORC to provide the APAC with a customized platform using HSRI’s enterprise data warehouse (EDW) and powered by the NORC Data Enclave^®. The comprehensive platform and ancillary services fulfilled the state’s priorities to modernize the database by:

• Enhancing and expanding data-sharing and linkage capabilities
• Creating tiered data access within a secure desktop environment
• Implementing a high-performance computational infrastructure
• Providing user support for a growing research community

The Data Enclave serves as a compliant virtual environment for the EDW. The Enclave’s analytic platform features a variety of tools for APAC users and provides a place and process for them to access and analyze the data. Data export requests are also handled in the Enclave via our disclosure review application.

Oregon has maximized the data quality and analytical capabilities of its APAC within a secure yet agile platform.

The HSRI-NORC team, in partnership with the state Office of Health Analytics, has strengthened the APAC, solving prior limitations and meeting new demands. Designed for scalability, the APAC’s modern platform has seen its user base double and its data-sharing activity increase significantly.

In turn, APAC-enabled research has accelerated, allowing policymakers to make more informed decisions and leading to improvements in health care quality and affordability for Oregonians.