The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has launched the first phase of its Physician Compare website, which provides online tools aimed at helping Medicare beneficiaries and other consumers choose doctors in their communities.
The new resource expands and updates CMS' Healthcare Provider Directory, which has been in operation for more than a decade.
"The new Physician Compare tool begins to fill an important gap in our online tools by providing more information about physicians and other healthcare workers," said Donald Berwick, MD, CMS' administrator. "This helps to pave the way for consumers to have similar information about their physicians as they have for nursing homes, home health agencies and health and drug plans."
The website is a requirement of last year's health reform law and houses information about healthcare workers enrolled in the Medicare program. It includes information on doctors of medicine, osteopathy, optometry, podiatry and chiropractics as well as on healthcare providers who provide routine care for Medicare beneficiaries, including nurse practitioners, clinical psychologists, dieticians, physical therapists, physician assistants and occupational therapists.
While the website includes basic information about physician practices – including addresses and where the doctors received their degrees and completed residency – it also shows whether the doctors reported data to CMS through the Physician Quality Reporting System, formerly known as the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). The PQRI is a voluntary program that allows physicians to earn rewards by reporting data and specific quality measures related to providing care for Medicare beneficiaries. In 2009, more than 200,000 healthcare providers reported data to the PQRI.
The second phase for the website, to be unveiled later this year, will provide information on whether healthcare providers participated in a voluntary program with CMS to prescribe medications electronically. Further enhancements are planned in coming years to include information on quality of care and patient experiences with individual healthcare providers.
CMS has worked with healthcare providers in developing Physician Compare and will continue to seek feedback from the industry through public events, as well as through updates to the Physician Fee Schedule.