Medicare Payment Data Dump Opens Can of Worms
Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services heralded the historic release of data on services and procedures provided to Medicare beneficiaries by 880,000 physicians and other health care professionals. These providers received $77 billion in 2012 under the Medicare Part B fee-for-service program. Journalists and government transparency advocates are hailing the move as an important opportunity to analyze services and procedures. It could even create the opportunity to compare specific doctors according to the volume of certain procedures performed.
Health industry advocates decried the decision to release the data. From the head of the American Medical Association down to just about any other organization willing to comment, the point was made that this is a dangerous data dump that lacks context. The American Medical Associatio’s Ardis Dee Hoven said the data “will likely lead to inaccuracies, misinterpretations, false conclusions and other unintended consequences.” Politico quoted the head of the Community Oncology Alliance saying “this is a complete disaster.”
Like it or not, the toothpaste is out of the tube, and health care providers need to quit grousing about the decision and focus on how they are going to react. They need to react quickly, because November is coming fast. Here are three suggestions:
I can’t think of any other American industry that has undergone as many sweeping competitive and regulatory changes in such a short time as health care. But one change – the release of data on Medicare payments made to health care providers – introduces a new political dynamic that […]
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