Agreement between self-reported information and medical claims data on diagnosed diabetes in Oregon's Medicaid population.

Recent trends in Oregon indicated that diabetes is on the rise. Medicaid self-reported data estimated about 11 percent are affected by diabetes, which is twice the prevalence of the general population in Oregon. Little is known about the agreement between self-reported information and medical claims data in the Medicaid population. This study provides an opportunity to compare prevalence of diabetes when the estimates are computed from the two different data sources. A sample of 2,154 Medicaid adults in Oregon (18 to 64 years old) were identified in both the Medicaid claims and self-report survey. The result reported a strong agreement of diabetes definition between the Medicaid claim data and the self-reported survey.

Public health surveillance approaches in Oregon's Medicaid population.

The development of methods for public health surveillance in Medicaid populations is an important goal for public health practice. In Oregon, we developed approaches to case finding using claims and self-reported data obtained from the Medicaid beneficiary population. Disease rosters, derived from claims data, form the basis for analyses pertaining to particular health conditions. Self-reported information obtained through a telephone survey forms the basis for analyses pertaining to behavioral risk factors, disease history, and other information not available in claims data. We also describe some projects in which we plan to use combined claims and survey data. We describe our experiences with using these techniques and provide examples from projects in progress or planned. Our initial experiences suggest that these approaches enhance our ability to conduct public health surveillance in Oregon's Medicaid population.