A new collection of Medicaid data has come together due to a collaboration between San Francisco-based startup, Nuna, and the federal government, reports The New York Times.
Here are six things to know.
1. Nuna worked with the federal government to build a cloud-computing database of the 74 million U.S. Medicaid patients and their treatment, according to the article.
2. The new database uses flexible and interactive cloud-based technology, which allows for potential real-time monitoring of emerging disease clusters, billing patterns and program effects, according to the report.
3. CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt touted the database. According to the report, he described it as "near historic." He said largely because Medicaid information resides in so many state-level computing silos, "we've never had a systemwide view across the program."
4. Part of the excitement about the Medicaid work with Nuna is how it could potentially aid in the transition from fee-for-service to value-based care, according to the report. That's because, as the report notes, that shift is only possible with accurate, reliable data to help measure healthcare outcomes.
5. Jini Kim, founder CEO of Nuna, also has a personal relationship with Medicaid. According to the report, she helped her Korean immigrant parents complete the Medicaid application form when she was just 9 years old.
6. According to the report, Ms. Kim founded Nuna in 2010 and remained the company's only full-time employee until 2014. The company now employs 110 people and has raised $90 million in venture capital.
For more on this story, read Steve Lohr's full report in The New York Times.