Does the CDC recommend using Medicare and Medicaid data for arthritis surveillance?
No. Dr. Ken Powell from the Georgia Department of Human Resources explored the use of these data (Powell E, Diseker A, Presley J, et al. Administrative data as a tool for arthritis surveillance: Estimating prevalence and utilization of services. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. 2003 July;9(4); 291–298. He found one can obtain different answers, depending on 1) how variables are defined, 2) the number of years included, and 3) how enrollment is defined. He also found that using these data was very labor intensive and was difficult to justify.
