About Us

Established in 1996, the Research Data Assistance Center (ResDAC) is a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) contractor that provides assistance to researchers interested in CMS data. As a CMS contractor, we provide assistance to academic, non-profit, for-profit and government researchers.

Our staff members have diverse skills and backgrounds, including epidemiology, public health, health services research, statistics and health informatics. ResDAC faculty are actively involved in research using Medicare and Medicaid data. The ResDAC Assistance Desk is staffed by masters level Technical Advisors and Executive Advisors with specialized training on federal privacy rules.

Contact Us

Call Us
Assistance Desk Hours
M-F 8am-4pm CT
Email Us
Send us an email anytime.
resdac@umn.edu
Emails and phone calls will be acknowledged in 1 business day.

Our Services

ResDAC provides technical assistance to researchers interested in the CMS Medicare and Medicaid data through the following resources:

Assistance Desk: phone or email support for questions, including but not limited to:

  • Strengths, weaknesses, and other research applications of Medicare and Medicaid data
  • Understanding the Medicare and Medicaid programs and policies, particularly as they relate to research
  • Structure and creation of CMS administrative data files
  • Specifications for CMS data request packets
  • Details on cohort selection options
  • Generation of cost invoices for data
  • Interpretation of data analysis results (Note: ResDAC does not perform statistical analyses or provide programming assistance.)

CMS Data Workshops: in-person, interactive workshops

Online Learning: webinars, recorded videos and knowledgebase articles

  • Live webinars
  • Recorded video of webinars and workshops
  • Knowledgebase articles including brief data or file alerts, detailed review of topics and analytic guidance