The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) released a new interactive map to increase understanding of geographic disparities in chronic disease among Medicare beneficiaries. The Mapping Medicare Disparities (MMD) Tool identifies disparities in health outcomes, utilization and spending by race, ethnicity and geographic location. Understanding geographic differences in disparities is important to informing policy decisions and efficiently targeting populations for interventions.
The Mapping Medicare Disparities Tool features:
- A dynamic interface with data on the prevalence of 18 chronic conditions, end stage renal disease, or a disability; Medicare spending; hospital and emergency department (ED) utilization; preventable hospitalizations; readmissions; and mortality rates.
- The ability to sort by state or county of residence, sex, age, dual-eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid and race and ethnicity.
- Built-in benchmarking features to investigate disparities within counties and across racial and ethnic groups and within racial and ethnic groups across counties.The MMD Tool was developed as part of The CMS Equity Plan for Improving Quality in Medicare. The plan provides a framework for advancing health equity by improving the quality of care provided to minority and other underserved Medicare beneficiaries. MMD Tool
- To learn more about how to use the tool and its data sources, see the MMD Tool Overview. Further details are available in the MMD Tool Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), the Quick Start Guide, and the MMD Tool Technical Documentation.
If you have any questions about the Mapping Medicare Disparities Tool, please contact mapping-medicare-disparities@norc.org.