Several specialty societies, including the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons and North American Spine Society recently sent a letter commenting on the potential release of Medicare physician data to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
While the organizations would support the appropriate use of Medicare claims data published publicly, the letter also encourages CMS to partner with physicians to develop policies that would promote reliable and effective use of published information. The letter states "the release of raw data regarding physician claims for providing medical services should be limited for specific purposes and with appropriate safeguards."
The organizations also supported considering the impact of data release on privacy and urged CMS to engage with experienced statisticians, physician organizations and other stakeholders on the best way to protect data. The steps laid out in the letter for disclosing this information are:
1. Focus on improving quality care
2. Meaningful efforts to ensure data accuracy
3. Necessary safeguards when publicly reporting Medicare data
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