How Physician Compare Could Help Consumers

This report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation outlines improvements and new ways health care payors could use the Physician Compare website.  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Physician Compare website, mandated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), allows consumers to compare physicians based on quality of care.  To date, the Physician Compare website holds a directory of physicians who accept Medicare patients, searchable by city, state, zip code, and medical specialty.  It designates which doctors participate in Medicare's Physician Quality Reporting System.  According to the ACA, by January, 2013,the Physician Compare website must contain physician performance information, and allow consumers to compare physicians based on quality and patient experience data. 

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