Would it be possible to get some elaboration or high level examples of what the "Vendor" field represents?  I understand PCP and Provider ID, but I'm not clear on Vendor.

For example, for a visit to a Specialist, the PCP identifies the members Primary Care Provider (which is not, in general, claim specific) and the Provider ID identifies the Specialist that the member visited (I'm assuming).  What would the Vendor represent?

Similarly, for an Inpatient Hospital stay, the Provider ID identifies the Hospital the member went to (I'm assuming).  What does Vendor represent in this case?

• bump *

I work with healthcare data on a day to day basis, and I'm kind of stumped as to what Vendor means.

I might be wrong here (English is my 3rd language and I never worked with this kind of data), but according to dictionary definition, vendor is a person or agency that sells - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vendor.

For instance, if MemberID goes to a hospital X or a clinic Y for a service, then X or Y will be recored as a Vendor in the claim. In other words, Vendor is a person or agency that gets paid on a claim.

HTH

I also have the same question. It would be helpful if the organizers could explain how exactly Vendor fits in the equation.