CMS developed Market Saturation and Utilization Data Tool
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has developed a Market Saturation and Utilization Data Tool that includes interactive maps and a dataset that shows national-, state-, and county-level provider services and utilization data for selected health service areas. Market saturation, in the present context, refers to the density of providers of a particular service within a defined geographic area, relative to the number of the beneficiaries receiving that service in the area.
The seventh release of the data tool includes a quarterly update of the data to the 14 health service areas from release 6, and also includes Federally Qualified Health Centers and Ophthalmology data. Release 7 will therefore include seven, 12-month reference periods and the following health service areas: Home Health, Ambulance (Emergency, Non-Emergency, Emergency & Non-Emergency), Independent Diagnostic Testing Facilities (Part A and Part B), Skilled Nursing Facilities, Hospice, Physical and Occupational Therapy, Clinical Laboratory (Billing Independently), Long-Term Care Hospitals, Chiropractic Services, Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs, Psychotherapy, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and Ophthalmology.
Also new to Release 7 is a trend analysis graphing tool that allows users to graph the percentage change and trend over time at the national level for the available metrics and health services areas.
The Market Saturation and Utilization Data Tool is one of many tools used by CMS to monitor and manage market saturation as a means to help prevent potential fraud, waste, and abuse. The data can also be used to reveal the degree to which use of a service is related to the number of providers servicing a geographic region. Provider services and utilization data by geographic regions are easily compared using an interactive map. There are a number of secondary research uses for these data, but one objective of making these data public is to assist health care providers in making informed decisions about their service locations and the beneficiary population they serve.
