UMBC’s Hilltop Institute, with its partners ServBeyond Solutions and A-G Associates, has just been awarded a $2 million contract from the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) to develop a multi-payer claims analytic tool (MCAT). In 2019 with federal approval, Maryland launched the Total Cost of Care Model, which is transforming the state’s long-standing all-payer hospital rate-setting system towards a model that holds the state accountable for the total cost of care for Medicare participants. The state’s goal is to achieve $300 million in annual total Medicare spending by 2023. The MCAT will support performance and quality monitoring under the Total Cost of Care Model by automating data aggregation, visualization, and report generation. The MCAT may eventually be expanded to include data from other payers.
Hilltop’s contract is for phase one of MCAT development. Hilltop will develop and test the MCAT platform and visualization tools using Medicare claims for all beneficiaries in Maryland and a sample of Medicare beneficiaries nationwide. Hilltop will model the MCAT after its existing data visualization platforms.
MCAT development is being directed by Jim Clavin, MBA, Hilltop’s Chief Technology and Compliance Officer. Under the guidance of Senior Policy Analyst Chuck Betley, MA, Hilltop will advise the HSCRC on performance and quality measure development.