Recently, the Medicare chargemaster data has been made publicly available for how much hospitals bill Medicare for top procedures. Rates varied widely and as media sources scramble to cover these variations, a new push toward price transparency is gaining momentum. The big question is: will price transparency for individual physicians be next? A recent ruling on May 31, 2013, by US District Judge Marcia Howard in Jacksonville, Fla., found the Privacy Act of 1974, which had previously been used to prevent the disclosure of Medicare revenue information by physician in the press, no longer protects this information "given how the federal judiciary has interpreted the law since 1979," according to a Medscape Today News report.The initial ruling was in favor of the American Medical Association, which tried to protect physician privacy from the Wall Street Journal, which argued in favor of publicly printing billing data. The 33-year permanent injunction was lifted, according to the report, but groups interested in the data would need to file under the Freedom of Information Act and the US Department of Health & Human Services could grant or deny requests, according to the report.
The American Medical Association continues to disagree with lifting the injunction.
In 2011, Senators Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced a bill that would disclose the amount individual physicians receive from Medicare, according to another Medscape Today News report. While the bill didn't reach actualization, it remains to be seen whether renewed efforts will push forward with price transparency for physicians this time around.
More Articles on Physicians:
The Long-Term Fulfillment in a Spine Surgeon's Career: Q&A With Dr. William Watters of The Baylor College of Medicine
5 Pillars of Independent Spine Groups Today From Dr. Stephen Hochschuler
20 Spine Surgeons Focused on Implant Design