The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services this week released its first public report on provider performance and cost using data from Medicare's Data Sharing for Performance Measurement, also known as the Qualified Entity Program. Under the program, organizations certified as qualified entities combine CMS claims data with other payers' claims data to determine healthcare provider and supplier quality. The report comes from the Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation, which, thanks to Medicare data, was able to publish quality measures for clinics that were unable to compile reports with only Medicaid and commerical data due to their small patient populations, according to a CMS blog post. "[W]e believe this program will increase the transparency of provider and supplier performance, and provide beneficiaries access to information that will help them make more informed decisions about their healthcare," the report states. Report