Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Peregrine Data Set?

The Peregrine data set is a relational collection of information that links health care providers, organizations and payers to each other through a sophisticated data model. There are two distinct classes of providers in the data set, the Professional Providers and the Services/Facilities Providers. These data sets are organized so that professionals can be related to organizations and vice versa.

Why the Peregrine Data is important?

Accurate provider and plan information is fundamental to the delivery of cost efficient health care in the era of increasing cost and demand. At the same time, both the provider and consumer populations are far more mobile (volatile) than at any time in the past. For businesses, managed care organizations, large and small provider organizations, individuals, and consumers to communicate, measure, react, and serve our medical community; the information must be very accurate and reliable. Most of all, the accuracy must keep pace with change.

The Peregrine Data set is an active rather than passive database. Passive data sets collect, compile and turn around information without strict review processes in place. As an active data set, this information is rigorously maintained over time and meets specific target criteria for accuracy and timeliness. Because the data set is maintained with time and accuracy as measured criteria, other active data sets can be linked without severe degradation in their accuracy. The managed care contracts extension is an example of such a linkage and demonstrates the value of active data sets. Linking the Peregrine information to other data sets, which also require a high degree of accuracy, have a time component, and utilize one:many relationships, is now possible. In this way, much of the use of the Peregrine Data set is as a core or master data set.

How is the Peregrine Data set used?

There is no easy answer to this question. Each of our current users employs the data set differently. There are a few common uses such as strategic planning, network comparison, network adequacy, and patient referral.

• Hospitals use it for planning, recruiting, or marketing, to populate their web site, and compare hospital staff membership.
• Health Plans use it to compare their networks to the broad community for recruiting, to update their internal data and compare networks.
• Large Providers use it to communicate with their referrers.
• Medium size providers use it to identify physician groups, plan services, and to market their services.
• Industry watchers use it to monitor and report on the size and strength of the Community.

Each of our users have found ways to employ the data base in a broad variety of ways that we have generally termed Reference uses. This is because they will use the Peregrine data as a benchmark reference source.

What types of providers are included in the Peregrine Data set?

There are two provider classes that Peregrine delivers. Professional Providers and Service/Facility Providers.

• Professional Providers include Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, Midwives, Physician Assistants, Chiropractors, and Podiatrists.
• Service/Facility Providers include over 40 service types.

Why does Peregrine maintain other types of Professionals in the data set, like Behavioral Health, Physical Therapists, Clinical Social Workers, Dentists, Audiologists etc.?

We recognize the importance of other provider types to the community. Our solution, and it was a good one five years ago, was to introduce the concept of Services/Facilities. Behavioral Health, Physical Therapy, Dental Services, Audiology, etc. tend to be organized as services even if the organization is a sole proprietorship. Our original focus was to list Physicians only, but we realized, that if rural health and indigent care were to be part of the broader community we needed to include physician extenders such as Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Midwives and Physician Assistants. We also felt that Podiatrists and Chiropractors were part of the rural and indigent care community because of the needs of the growing population of uninsured and workers compensation claims. Peregrine extended its resources to include these types of providers at the request of the community. We are glad we did, because these Physician extenders are proving to play a far greater role in health care than we or the community might have envisioned a few years ago.

How does Peregrine keep information accurate?

Peregrine Management Corporation constantly monitors the data received from health plans, hospital systems, and provider groups. We review these multiple sources for changes on a monthly basis. If any changed activity is shown for any individual provider, that providers office is contacted and verified. If no activity is shown from any of these sources in 90 days, the provider is called within the next 30 days to re verify their profile.

Often providers will delay notifying their Health Plans and Hospitals of a change because of outstanding issues or payments that may be in process. Peregrine Management Corporation is able to detect changes in provider profiles long before providers notify the Health Plans and Hospitals.

How does Peregrine Management Corporation know that their information is correct?

Peregrine Management Corporation applies statistical quality control analysis prior to distributing the information. We also keep a complete set of monthly snapshots of the entire data set for review. We report trends and statistics over time.

Where is the greatest error in the Information?

The greatest error in the Peregrine Data set is with respect to Providers that practice Mental health. While we are constantly trying to improve this data, and we believe that our accuracy for these physicians is better than 92%. It is the data that we have the least and most difficult access to.

Why is Peregrine Data Regional in scope?

Peregrine Management Corporation focuses on building data sets that focus on regional provider communities. While many of the financial, managerial, research and talent resources for health care are organized at the national level, the medicine that patients access is organized and practiced at the community level We have learned that the term regional communities is a greatly oversimplified. Regional Health Care is a set of self organizing communities within communities. The relationships that exist between the providers within these communities is essential to the operation of the regional communities. Monitoring volatility at the regional level is the only way to maintain a precise data set..