Whispers
Dimensional aggregations computed after rate selection and joined onto each ROID row. Whispers add summary context without affecting canonical rate selection itself.
Why Whispers
A raw ROID row tells you "Aetna PPO pays $18,500 for knee replacement at Mass General." A whisper adds: "The national median for knee replacement is $12,400, and Mass General's average rate across all payers is $19,200." This context enables customers to interpret a single rate in relation to the broader landscape — without requiring them to run aggregation queries themselves.
Whispers are computed after canonical selection and joined onto tmp_int_combined_no_whisp to produce tmp_int_combined. They have no circular dependencies on canonical rates.
8 Whisper Dimensions
| Whisper | Partition | Key Stats | Reference Data Joined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provider | provider_id | Rate aggregates, coverage counts | Hospital scorecards, NASHP cost reports, CareJourney quality/cost scores |
| Payer | payer_id | Median rate, provider count | Payer-level reference |
| Network | network_id | Median rate, provider count | Network metadata |
| Code | billing_code, bill_type | National average rate, estimated national revenue | Komodo utilization (encounter counts) |
| Provider-Payer | provider_id, payer_id | Codes this payer covers at this provider | — |
| Provider-Code | provider_id, billing_code | Provider's rate for this code across all payers | — |
| Payer-Code | payer_id, billing_code | Payer's rate distribution for this code | — |
| Provider-Payer-Network | provider_id, payer_id, network_id | Most granular multi-dimensional stats | — |
Provider Whisper — Reference Data Detail
The provider whisper joins several external reference datasets:
- Hospital Scorecard: composite score, cash price score, list price score, v2 scoring methodology
- NASHP Cost Report: net profit margin, commercial breakeven rate, payer mix, drug charge ratios
- CareJourney Scores: physician counts, quality scores, cost efficiency scores per hospital
Code Whisper — Utilization
The code whisper joins Komodo national_commercial_code_taxonomy_encounters to add national utilization context:
- How many commercial claims exist for this code nationally
- Estimated national revenue =
code_national_avg_canonical_rate × code_national_avg_number_of_claims
This estimated revenue field is used by customers and internal tools to prioritize which codes matter most at the national level.