The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last week announced the first Medicare data-sharing participants that combine Medicare claims data with insurers' data on provider performance. The program aims to help consumers get more information regarding their local doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers, according to CMS. It makes Medicare claims data available, under strict privacy requirements, to groups certified as qualified to handle this data and protect patient privacy.
The three organizations are:
- Health Improvement Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati
- Kansas City Quality Improvement Consortium (serving the Greater Kansas City area in Missouri and Kansas)
- Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation
These groups will combine Medicare and private insurance data to create comprehensive, useful reports on provider performance, according to CMS. "These organizations will make quality and cost information more available and easier to understand for the health care systems in their areas," said Acting CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner. "By allowing these organizations to combine Medicare data with other insurers' data in public reports, consumers and businesses will have better information on provider performance and providers will have a greater incentive to improve the quality of care." Announcement