Using administrative medical claims data to supplement state disease registry systems for reporting zoonotic infections

Objective To determine what, if any, opportunity exists in using administrative medical claims data for supplemental reporting to the state infectious disease registry system. Materials and methods Cases of five tick-borne (Lyme disease (LD), babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), tularemia) and two mosquito-borne diseases (West Nile virus, La Crosse viral encephalitis) reported to the Tennessee Department of Health during 2000-2009 were selected for study. Similarly, medically diagnosed cases from a Tennessee-based managed care organization (MCO) claims data warehouse were extracted for the same time period. MCO and Tennessee Department of Health incidence rates were compared using a complete randomized block design within a general linear mixed model to measure potential supplemental reporting opportunity. Results MCO LD incidence was 7.7 times higher (p<0.001) than that reported to the state, possibly indicating significant under-reporting (similar to 196 unreported cases per year). MCO data also suggest about 33 cases of RMSF go unreported each year in Tennessee (p<0.001). Three cases of babesiosis were discovered using claims data, a significant finding as this disease was only recently confirmed in Tennessee. Discussion Data sharing between MCOs and health departments for vaccine information already exists (eg, the Vaccine Safety Datalink Rapid Cycle Analysis project). There may be a significant opportunity in Tennessee to supplement the current passive infectious disease reporting system with administrative claims data, particularly for LD and RMSF. Conclusions There are limitations with administrative claims data, but health plans may help bridge data gaps and support the federal administration's vision of combining public and private data into one source.