Moving Medicaid Data Forward, Part 1: Understanding T-MSIS, the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System

The Medicaid data landscape is being advanced by initiatives like the Medicaid and CHIP Business Information Solutions (MACBIS) project and the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS). These initiatives herald new and important opportunities for Medicaid researchers, offering enhanced analytics, better validation and improved production processes, and more ways to access and interact with data. For Medicaid staff and researchers, these changes are accompanied by questions about how to adapt and prepare for what lies ahead.

On Tuesday, October 11, 2016, Mathematica convened a panel of experts at our Washington, DC, office for the first of four forums on the evolving landscape of Medicaid data. Attendees at the forum and participants in the simultaneous live webcast gained a deeper understanding of ongoing Medicaid data reform under MACBIS, with a focus on the new data system, T-MSIS.

The presentations included:

• The ideas, needs, and limitations that have shaped Medicaid administrative data
• T-MSIS improvements and expected capabilities
• T-MSIS data validation and post-production processes

A panel discussion and moderated Q&A session will follow the presentations. A reception will take place immediately after the forum at Mathematica's Washington, DC, office.

Presenters included:

• Craig Thornton, Mathematica (moderator)
• Carol Irvin, Mathematica
• Jess Kahn, CMS Data and Systems Group director
• Vivian Byrd, Mathematica

• Leighton Ku, George Washington University School of Public Health (discussant)

• Kenneth Finegold, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (discussant)