Medicare to post individualized doctor pay data

(Bloomberg) – Medicare managers say they will release data on how much the program pays about 550,000 individual physicians next Wednesday.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) told the American Medical Association in a letter that the data will compare physicians with their peers and show where the medical services and procedures were delivered.

The AMA and other physician groups have fought the release of details about doctors’ Medicare payments for more than three decades.

Last May, a federal judge lifted a 33-year-old injunction that prohibited the Medicare agency from releasing any payment information that could be used to identify individual physicians, according to Bloomberg BNA.

“Data like these can shine a light on how care is delivered in the Medicare program,” Jonathan Blum, deputy administrator for CMS, said yesterday in a blog post announcing the decision. “They can help consumers compare the services provided and payments received by individual health care providers. Businesses and consumers alike can use these data to drive decision-making and reward quality, cost-effective care.”

While the AMA is “committed to transparency” and supports the release of some physician data, the group urges the government to allow individual doctors to review and correct their information prior to its public release, Ardis Dee Hoven, the association’s president, said in a statement.

“The AMA is concerned that CMS’ broad approach to releasing physician payment data will mislead the public into making inappropriate and potentially harmful treatment decisions and will result in unwarranted bias against physicians that can destroy careers,” Hoven said.