AB 75

Medically Indigent Care Reporting System (MICRS)

The Medically Indigent Care Reporting System (MICRS) is the name of the program that collects and provides to the State, demographic, financial, and utilization data on indigent health services provided through county facilities or through non-county contract providers. The State mandate for reporting of MICRS data is found under Section 16915 (a) of the Welfare & Institutions (W&I) Code. This section requires any county receiving an allocation from Prop 99 Tobacco Tax Funds to report such data.

Each fiscal year, the County submits two annual MICRS reports (estimated and actual) to the State. During the year, the County gathers data from all DPH programs, including San Francisco General Hospital, Laguna Honda Hospital, and the primary care centers, and from AmeriChoice for the CHIP Program fiscal intermediary. This data is deposited in a centralized database, and computerized statistical reports are prepared from the database. To assure data quality, AB 75 Project staff reviews the MICRS reports for reasonableness and consistency.

There are about fifteen tables included in the MICRS report covering inpatient, outpatient, and emergency room utilization and costs, demographic data (residency by zip code, family income and size, gender and ethnicity), and certain types of services (AIDS). A sample MICRS report can be found here.

In addition, upon request from the State, AB 75 Project staff researches data quality issues and implements MICRS policy changes in order to report more accurate data. The annual MICRS reports have been used by DPH for purposes of strategic planning and prioritization of services.