Physician Compare Update
Welcome to Physician Compare Update from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS will use this publication to regularly communicate news, updates, alerts, and announcements about Physician Compare. We want to hear from you about topics of interest, so please email the team at PhysicianCompare@Westat.com.
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Current Topics of Interest:
Physician Compare Quarterly Enhancement
On July 17, 2014, CMS launched a Physician Compare quarterly enhancement. The focus of this enhancement was to address edits suggested by consumers and stakeholders. One of the improvements made to the website was reordering the search options. Since primary care is generally the principal point of consultation for Medicare patients, a link to search for all generalist and group practices is always offered to users. However, since the implementation of this search functionality, stakeholders have raised concerns that including this link in the search results could confuse consumers and be detrimental to beneficiaries who are unfamiliar with the health care system. As a result of this feedback, consumer testing, and internal discussions, CMS moved the search all generalists and group practices links to the bottom of the search results list. This ensures that the specialties most relevant to the search term appear first. Additional labeling of each section was also included to help further clarify the results list for site users.
Additional enhancements released in July include:
- Refining the “Is this you?” link to provide more actionable information to assist group practices and health care professionals in updating their information on Physician Compare.
- Adding a full Google Mash-Up on the profile page Location tab to improve usability and accuracy.
We encourage you to visit Physician Compare to view these improvements and provide feedback.
Public Reporting of Quality Measures
On February 21, 2014, CMS posted the first set of quality measures on the Physician Compare website. These data include a subset of the 2012 Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) Group Practice Reporting Option (GPRO) Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) measures for the 66 group practices and 141 Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that successfully reported via the web interface. The data are reported at the group practice and ACO level.
The group practice quality measure scores are displayed using stars, which are graphical representations of the percent. Each star represents 20 percentage points. CMS chose this measure display to make the information more usable for consumers. Stars are familiar to consumers, as they are used everywhere from travel sites to shopping sites to other health care sites. They are also consumer-friendly because they are easily scanned to get an overall idea of the information being presented. In response to stakeholder feedback, to further assist users and for full transparency, the actual percentage score is also listed to the right of the star display.
CMS will phase in additional quality measures on Physician Compare over the next several years. The 2013 and 2014 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rules further expand on the public reporting plan by including PQRS GPRO and ACO GPRO measures collected via the web interface, registries, and EHRs; PQRS individual measures collected through an EHR, registry, or claims; and patient experience survey measures, specifically the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) for PQRS and CAHPS for ACOs.
For more information about the public reporting plan, please visit the Physician Compare Initiative webpage. A more detailed outline of the Physician Compare public reporting plan can also be foundhere.
Physician Compare Town Hall
On February 24, 2014, CMS hosted a Town Hall meeting to solicit input on the future of Physician Compare. Nearly 300 individuals representing a wide range of stakeholder organizations registered to attend. Representatives provided statements and questions in person and via phone during the event. CMS also accepted written statements until March 3, 2014. All meeting materials, including transcripts are available on the Physician Compare Initiative webpage.
Physician Compare Technical Expert Panel
In October 2013, CMS first convened the Physician Compare Quality Measurement Technical Expert Panel (TEP) to provide expert input regarding public reporting via the Physician Compare website. The TEP is comprised of 16 individuals representing the perspectives of patients/caregivers and purchasers as well as technical experts. The goal of the first meeting was to get expert input on the publication of the 2012 PQRS GPRO quality measures that CMS was evaluating for public reporting in February 2014. CMS also sought the TEP’s recommendations regarding future plans for public reporting.
The TEP convened for a second time on March 3, 2014 to gather input on the future of public reporting on Physician Compare, mirroring the goal of the Town Hall meeting held on February 24. Summaries from both the 2013 and the 2014 TEP meetings are available on the Physician Compare Initiative webpage.
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