CMS dashboard to simplify best practices for chronic disease

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new dashboard this week that will simplify access to the agency’s warehouse of data on chronic conditions among older adults. The analytics tools within the Medicare Chronic Conditions Dashboard will help researchers, care facilities, medical staff and policy groups improve care for Medicare recipients who have multiple chronic conditions, noted Marilyn Tavenner, Acting Administrator, CMS.

“More than two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries have multiple chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, and that number will rise with an aging population,” Tavenner said in a CMS statement. “The Affordable Care Act addresses these health problems by making people with Medicare eligible for recommended preventive care without Part B deductibles or copayments.”

Access to current data can foster a better understanding of how multiple chronic conditions interact in older adults, leading to improved benchmarking and best practices. In calendar year 2011, spending for Medicare beneficiaries with two or more chronic conditions was about $276 billion, about 93 percent of all Medicare spending, according to CMS.

The dashboard contains summary data beginning in 2011. The tool is part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Initiative on Multiple Chronic Conditions, established in 2009.

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.