Data on Health Care Services, K.R.S. § 216.2929

Data on health care services charges and quality and outcome measures to be publicly available on cabinet’s website; reports required by board

The Cabinet on Health and Family Services must make available on its website information on charges for health care services in easy to understand language that allows consumers to make comparisons between each hospital and ambulatory facility, by payer, and for other provider groups as data becomes available. 

Any charge information compiled by the Cabinet must include the median charge and other percentiles to describe the typical charges, and include the total number of patients represented by all charges.  The report must clearly identify data sources.  Providers named in the report must be given 30 days to verify the accuracy of the data before public release, and must be able to submit comments to be included on the website.  The Cabinet must provide linkages to organizations that publicly report comparative charge data for Kentucky providers using all patients treated regardless of payer. 

The Cabinet must make quality and outcome measure information available on its website at least annually in an easy to understand language and to allow consumers to make comparisons among facilities.  The Cabinet may only use national quality indicators endorsed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Quality Forum, or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.  The Cabinet must provide links to AHRQ, CMS, and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations that publicly report quality and performance measures on Kentucky providers. 

The Cabinet may only refer the public to the nationally endorsed quality measures that are based on scientific evidence or professional consensus and have calculation methods open to the public. 

Publicly disseminated reports must:

• Not include data from a provider whose caseload is not sufficient to reliably calculate performance information;
• Clearly identify the sources of data used and explain the analytical  methods for preparing the data;
• Explain limitations of the data and how consumers may use the data.

The Cabinet must submit an annual report on its activities.  The Cabinet must provide a bi-annual report on comparative health care charges, quality, and outcomes, and the effectiveness of its consumer outreach and education efforts.  The Cabinet must also report bi-annually on the special health needs of the minority population within the state, including minority health status, disproportionate disease and conditions, mortality and morbidity rates within the minority population, and make recommendations to address those health needs.