SUGME-November 8, 2002

Speaker Bio David Shamlin, Research and Development Director, Base Table Services, SAS Institute, joined SAS in 1987 as a member of the VMS Host group, where he helped develop low-level file systems. He also did a tour of duty with the SAS IO development team, becoming a pioneer in industry standard data access interfaces to SAS data stores. David brings these experiences to his current role as research and development director for Base Table Services where he leads the development of fundamental SAS technology related to the data step, BASE PROCs, the LIBNAME supervisor, data set and catalog IO, SAS/SHARE and other client/server components related to SAS data access. David holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from North Carolina State University.

Part II: November 8, 2002: The Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Dartmouth

Stephanie R. Raymond, BA, is Senior Programmer/Analyst at the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Dartmouth Medical School located in Hanover, NH. Stephanie has twenty years experience in database management, design and development of complex information systems, and applications programming primarily using base SAS software on different platforms, including VM/CMS, VAX/VMS, Windows/NT, and Unix.
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Cindi L. Kreiman, MA, Research Associate/Programmer Analyst at the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, NH has over eight years of experience of working in research and development with SAS including: base SAS, SAS PROC SQL, SAS/STAT, SAS MACRO and Enterprise Miner software and joined the CECS Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care Production team two years ago. Previously, Cindi worked as a Research Scientist/Database Analyst for the Texas Health Quality Alliance (EQRO monitor for the Texas Department of Health - Medicaid Managed Care Program) in Austin and as a SAS programmer/modeling analyst working for Zilliant in Austin, TX Cindi has a Masters Degree .in Educational Psychology, Measurement and Statistics(1994) and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education(1988) from the University of Iowa and started working as a SAS Programmer/Research Analyst for The Psychological Corporation in San Antonio where she worked as a member of the Psychometric Team within the Division of Psychological and Measurement Group in 1995.
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Diana R. Smith, M.Ed., Research Associate/Programmer Analyst at the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, NH has over twenty years of experience providing computing support for research using SAS and related tools. Past and current responsibilities include applications programming/data management (primarily using base SAS) , system design and development, and end-user support management. Diana joined the CECS Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care Production team about one year ago.

From Medicare Data to Rates Dissemination and All the Steps In-Between.

The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care
Presentation by D. Smith, C. Kreiman, and S. Raymond

Join us for an overview of how our team develops an Atlas from Medicare and other data using SAS as our primary information processing tool. We'll walk you through the steps involved in acquiring and managing the source data, identifying and comparing health care events across geographic regions, determining appropriate methodology, and computing rates for report generation using specialized graphs.

The Dartmouth Atlas project is a funded research effort of the faculty of the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Dartmouth Medical School. The Atlas project brings together researchers in diverse disciplines - including epidemiology, economics, and statistics - and focuses on the accurate description of how medical resources are distributed and used in the United States.

Using very large health care claims databases (including Medicare, Blue Cross organizations, and other sources of data) makes it possible to answer some very fundamental questions about the health care "system" in the United States - including the question of whether we really have a system at all.

Among the most notable findings of the Dartmouth Atlas project has been the documentation of remarkable differences in how Americans use health care resources, and the influence of the local supply of resources on the rates of use of those resources. In brief, the kind of health care you get can depend very much on where you happen to live.

Part III: November 8, 2002: Marge Scerbo and Craig Dickstein: Health Care Data and the SAS System

As a Senior Analyst at the Center for Health Program Development and Management at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Marge has filled many roles. She has designed analytic databases of both claims and encounters in the Maryland Medicaid system and was the principal developer of a major data warehouse and decision support system, specifically in the area of health care. Her expertise is in the area of quality assessment and clinical evaluation of health care delivery systems. Marge has been a user of SAS software for over 15 years and has 20 years of experience in health care from pediatric oncology to laboratory medicine, from private to public organizations. Marge has participated in local, regional, and international SAS user groups as an invaluable organizer and popular speaker.

Craig is the SAS Practice Manager for Intellicisions Data, Inc. As a senior consultant in Business Development, he works directly with key clients to assess their unique business needs and to design appropriate technology solutions. Craig began his career in medical research, gaining an appreciation for the rigors of applied research methodology. A SAS user for over 23 years, he has significant experience managing and developing SAS applications. His expertise is with large database reporting applications, statistical analysis, and data management. With a master's degree in statistics, Craig served as Director of Statistical Services with Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Hampshire. For many years Craig has been involved with SAS user groups and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the NorthEast SAS Users Group, Inc.

This seminar acquainted the attendees with the basics of administrative health care data. Topics covered included:

Review of HCFA-1500, UB-92 and Pharmacy prescription data and their core fields
Overview of coding structures used

Issues surrounding the complexity of this data
Some uses of the data: billing, research, and utilization review
Coding techniques helpful with this unique subject matter
Discussion of HEDIS and HIPAA in the context of data issues

This seminar is useful to new programmer/analysts, those looking to change focus or industry, and consultants who would like to include health care analysis as an expertise.