CMS 2008-2010 Data Entrepreneurs’ Synthetic Public Use File (DE-SynPUF) in OMOP Common Data Model

DE-SynPUF is provided here as a 1,000 person (1k), 100,000 person (100k), and 2,300,000 persom (2.3m) data sets in the OMOP Common Data Model  format. The DE-SynPUF was created with the goal of providing a realistic set of claims data in the public domain while providing the very highest degree of protection to the Medicare beneficiaries’ protected health information. The purposes of the DE-SynPUF are to:

1. allow data entrepreneurs to develop and create software and applications that may eventually be applied to actual CMS claims data;
2. train researchers on the use and complexity of conducting analyses with CMS claims data prior to initiating the process to obtain access to actual CMS data; and,
3. support safe data mining innovations that may reveal unanticipated knowledge gains while preserving beneficiary privacy. The files have been designed so that programs and procedures created on the DE-SynPUF will function on CMS Limited Data Sets. The data structure of the Medicare DE-SynPUF is very similar to the CMS Limited Data Sets, but with a smaller number of variables. The DE-SynPUF also provides a robust set of metadata on the CMS claims data that have not been previously available in the public domain. Although the DE-SynPUF has very limited inferential research value to draw conclusions about Medicare beneficiaries due to the synthetic processes used to create the file, the Medicare DE-SynPUF does increase access to a realistic Medicare claims data file in a timely and less expensive manner to spur the innovation necessary to achieve the goals of better care for beneficiaries and improve the health of the population.