CMS Posts New Quality Data For Individual Physicians Despite AMA Protests That Data Is Incomplete

In December 2015, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Physician Compare website published the first-ever quality performance scores for individual physicians who volunteered to provide their data. The American Medicine Association (AMA) opposed the publication because it said the data is incomplete. Scores are shown for about 60% of Medicare physicians. The remaining 40% may have had difficulty submitting their quality data or may have chosen not to participate. By publishing the data, CMS seeks to provide transparency for health care consumers and encourage consumers to choose health care professionals committed to providing high quality care . . .