An official website of the United States government
Background
The National Institute on Aging’s (NIA) Data LINKAGE Program (LINKAGE) provides data linkage services for NIA-funded Studies seeking to merge their study cohorts with Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data. The data linkage process involves applying sensitive participant information from the NIA-funded Study into an algorithm that finds potential matches in the CMS enrollment data and assigns the quality of the match(es).
Linkage Availability
Each NIA Study will have an annual linkage completed by the LINKAGE Contractor. Based on each Study’s research aims and design, NIA will implement an upper limit of up to four linkages in a 12-month period of performance.
Study Considerations
If the data collection wave occurs more frequently than annually and is associated with an expansion of the cohort, the study will be considered for a higher frequency of linkages based on their data needs. The final decision will be determined in collaboration with the LINKAGE Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and the Study’s NIA Program Officer (PO).
Studies with other special circumstances will be considered on an ad-hoc basis. The LINKAGE Contractor will ask the Study to submit, via email, their justification for the additional data linkage request. The LINKAGE Contractor will forward the request/justification to the COR and PO for review and determination.
Linkage Methodology for CMS data and NIA-funded studies
Learn more about how CMS data and data from NIA-funded studies are linked by