Florida Center for Health Information and Policy Analysis

The Florida Center for Health Information and Policy Analysis (Florida Center) performs several important functions to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of health care services in the state and to support consumers in health care decision making. The Florida Center is responsible for collecting, compiling, coordinating, analyzing, and disseminating health related data and statistics for the purpose of developing public policy and promoting the transparency of consumer health care information through www.FloridaHealthFinder.gov. These data provide accurate and timely health care information to consumers, policy analysts, administrators, and researchers in order to evaluate cost, quality, and access to care.

The Florida Center also promotes the exchange of secure, privacy-protected health care information, the adoption of electronic health records among providers, and the use of personal health records by all consumers. The Florida Center is actively promoting the adoption of electronic health record systems through health information exchange, electronic prescribing and personal health records software in partnership with health care stakeholders statewide.

The Florida Center is also responsible for collecting adverse incident reports from hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, health maintenance organizations, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities. The Florida Center works closely with facilities and regulatory agencies to assure that corrective actions have been implemented.

The Offices within the Florida Center are:

• Data Collection and Quality Assurance
• Risk Management and Patient Safety
• Data Dissemination and Communication
• Health Policy and Research
• Health Information Exchange

Contact Us or Order Data: We respond to requests for data from a variety of users, both inside the Agency and external stakeholders. If you cannot find what you need on these pages, or have suggestions for improvement, please use the contact information to let us know.

Submit Patient Data

AHCA collects patient discharge data in accordance with Section 408.061, Florida Statutes, and Chapters 59E-7 and 59B-9.

If you have any questions about your data submission, please reference the Agency's Guide to Patient Data Submission. This guide is the central source for information on current data collection rules, XML schemas, reporting calendars, forms, audit dictionaries, submission instructions and data element descriptions.

For information and instructions on reporting data for discharges occurring from Jan. 1, 2010 onward please use AHCA Guide to Patient Data Reporting, Version_2 (2010) [4.07MB].

Consumers

The Agency for Health Care Administration is committed to giving Floridians access to the information they need to make well-informed health care decisions. As a part of that commitment, the Agency is responsible for the nationally recognized website, FloridaHealthFinder.gov.

FloridaHealthFinder.gov has interactive tools that give Floridians the opportunity to compare quality and performance for hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, health plans, nursing homes, and hospice providers as well as pricing information on prescription drugs.

FloridaHealthFinder.gov features:

• A one-of-a-kind multimedia health encyclopedia offering over 3,900 articles and 3,000 illustrations of important medical information and interactive symptom navigator that connects to information about a particular health care facility.
• A Facility/Provider Locator allowing visitors to find licensed facilities/providers and view locations, inspection reports and more.
• Performance data for over 150 selected medical conditions and procedures in Florida's hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers, including pediatrics.
• Health plan comparison information on member satisfaction, coverage areas and quality of care.
• English and Spanish brochures that cover topics like Medicaid, assisted living, home health, nursing home care, patient safety, advance directives, prescription drug costs, and end-of-life issues.
• And much more.

Researchers

The Florida Center provides health care patient data to various publics for analyses of health outcomes, facilities utilization, performance and costs. The data can be obtained through the FloridaHealthFinder.gov custom query tool or requested here. Technical assistance is provided to all data users as well as information on other health care related databases maintained by other state agencies. The Florida Center is also a research center where statutory mandated reports and research briefs are developed using the collected patient data.

Committees & Councils

The mission of the State Consumer Health Information and Policy Advisory Council (Advisory Council) is to assist the Florida Center for Health Information and Policy Analysis (Florida Center) in the Agency for Health Care Administration (Agency) in reviewing the comprehensive health information system, including the identification, collection, standardization, sharing, and coordination of health-related data, fraud and abuse data, and professional and facility licensing data among federal, state, local, and private entities and to recommend improvements for purposes of public health, policy analysis, and transparency of consumer health care information.

The Advisory Council advises the Florida Center regarding the development and implementation of a long-range plan for making available health care quality measures and financial data available that will allow consumers to compare health care services. The health care quality measures and financial data will include, but are not limited to, pharmaceuticals, physicians, health care facilities, and health plans and managed care entities.

In addition, the Advisory Council advises the Florida Center in the development and implementation strategies for the adoption and use of electronic health records, including the development of an electronic health information network for the sharing of electronic health records among health care facilities, health care providers, and health insurers.

The composition and functions of the State Consumer Health Information and Policy Advisory Council are described further in section 408.05(8) F.S. and section 408.061 F.S.

Advisory Council:

• MEETING INFORMATION (Agendas, meeting materials, etc.)
• Member List
• Executive Summary
[57kb .pdf]

Technical Workgroups:

• Data Standards and Transparency Committee
• Health Information Exchange Coordinating Committee (HIECC)
• HIE Legal Work Group

Health Information Technology

The Florida Center promotes the development of secure health information exchange and supports the adoption and use of electronic health records by providers and personal health records by consumers for increased access to critical health information at the point of care. The Florida Center monitors innovations in health information technology, informatics, and the exchange of health information and provides a clearinghouse of technical resources on health information exchange, electronic prescribing, privacy and security, as well as other relevant issues at www.fhin.net.

The Florida Center is responsible for administering or coordinating with new federally funded programs created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009. These include the State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program, Florida Regional Extension Centers, the Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Program, and broadband access programs for rural health care providers. The Florida Center is responsible for administering the Florida Medicaid Health Information Network, which enables authorized providers to access Medicaid claims for their patients.

The Florida Center provides staff support for the Health Information Exchange Coordinating Committee, the Legal Working Group and the State Electronic Prescribing Advisory Panel, which advise the State Health Information Policy Advisory Panel and the Agency on issues related to Florida's Health Information Infrastructure.