Care Compare: Doctors and Clinicians Initiative

Care Compare: Doctors and Clinicians Initiative

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) publicly reports Quality Payment Program (QPP) performance information for doctors, clinicians, groups, and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) on Medicare Care Compare Doctors and Clinicians profile pages and in the Provider Data Catalog (PDC). The performance information was previously reported on Physician Compare profile pages and in the Physician Compare Downloadable Database.

Spotlight and Announcements

2022 Preview Period for Doctors and Clinicians is Now Open

The Doctors and Clinicians Preview Period is officially open as of November 13, 2023. You can now preview your 2022 Quality Payment Program (QPP) performance information before it will appear on clinician and group profile pages on the Medicare.gov compare tool and in the Provider Data Catalog (PDC). You can access the secure Preview through the QPP website.

Please refer to the resources below on how to preview your information:

For additional assistance with accessing the QPP website or obtaining your HCQIS Access Roles and Profile (HARP) user role, contact the QPP Service Center at QPP@cms.hhs.gov. You can also use the QPP Access User Guide (ZIP, 4.1 MB) to learn how to register with HARP.

Download the resources below to learn more about the 2022 QPP performance information that’s available for preview. See the Downloads section of this page for additional resources.

Please note that Accountable Care Organization (ACO)-level data isn’t available for viewing via the QPP site during the Preview Period. MIPS eligible clinicians who participate in Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs can preview their performance information in their 2022 MIPS Performance Feedback.

Shared Savings Program ACOs can also review quality performance information in their previously provided 2022 Quality Performance Reports. The list of ACO performance information planned for public reporting is available on this Initiative page. 

The 2022 Preview Period will close on December 12, 2023, at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT). 

Please note the 2022 QPP performance information planned for public reporting in 2024 will be added to Medicare.gov compare tool profile pages and/or the PDC after all targeted reviews are completed. If you have an open targeted review request, you’ll still be able to preview your 2022 QPP performance information during the Doctors and Clinicians Preview Period. 

If you have any questions about public reporting for doctors and clinicians on the Medicare.gov compare tool, contact the QPP Service Center by email at QPP@cms.hhs.gov, by creating a QPP Service Center ticket, or by phone at 1-866-288-8292 (Monday-Friday 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET).

People who are deaf or hard of hearing can dial 711 to be connected to a TRS Communications Assistant.

Address Suppression Available for Clinicians Providing Telehealth or Other Non-Patient-Facing Services From Their Homes

Doctors and clinicians who provide telehealth-only or other non-patient-facing services in their homes can suppress their street addresses on Medicare.gov compare tool profile pages.

A doctor or clinician may need to enroll their home address as a practice location but prefer their personal contact information not be publicly reported. Doctors and clinicians can either mark the address as a “Home office for administrative/telehealth use only” location in the Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System (PECOS), which will suppress street address details, or email the QPP Service Center to suppress the street address and/or phone number. In such cases, CMS maintains city, state, and zip code information so that doctors and clinicians can still be included in searches and have their performance information reported.

CMS may also suppress street addresses when there’s a safety concern related to a clinician’s practice location information being publicly available.

For more information, please visit the “About the Data” and “Frequently Asked Questions” sections of the Care Compare: Doctors and Clinicians Initiative page.

2021 Quality Payment Program (QPP) Performance Information Now Available on Care Compare

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) added new 2021 Quality Payment Program (QPP) performance information for doctors, clinicians, groups, virtual groups, and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to the Doctors and Clinicians section of Medicare Care Compare and in the Provider Data Catalog (PDC). CMS is required to report MIPS eligible clinicians’ final scores, MIPS eligible clinicians’ performances under each MIPS performance category, names of eligible clinicians in Advanced APMs and, to the extent feasible, the names and performance of such Advanced APMs. Performance information for doctors and clinicians is displayed using measure-level star ratings, percent performance scores, and checkmarks. 

Medicare patients and caregivers can use the Care Compare website to search for and compare doctors, clinicians, and groups who are enrolled in Medicare. Publicly reporting 2021 QPP performance information helps empower patients to select and access the right care from the right provider.

Refer to the documents below for more details about the 2021 QPP performance information that has been added to Care Compare profile pages and the PDC:

If you have any questions about public reporting for doctors and clinicians on Care Compare, contact the QPP Service Center at 1-866-288-8292 (Monday-Friday 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET) or by e-mail at QPP@cms.hhs.gov.

  • To receive assistance more quickly, consider calling during non-peak hours (before 10 a.m. and after 2 p.m. ET).
  • Customers who are hard of hearing can dial 711 to be connected to a TRS Communications Assistant.

Now Available: Telehealth Indicator for Doctors and Clinicians on Care Compare

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) added a new telehealth indicator on clinician profile pages on Medicare Care Compare and in the Provider Data Catalog (PDC). The new indicator helps beneficiaries and caregivers more easily find clinicians who provide telehealth services.

Telemedicine services expanded in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency to improve patients’ access to care. Last year, CMS reported (PDF) a 30-fold increase in telehealth services, with more than half of Medicare beneficiaries utilizing them between March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. The telehealth indicator is the latest example of CMS’s efforts to ensure Care Compare provides beneficiaries and caregivers meaningful information about services they value as they search for clinicians.

For more information, access the Telehealth Indicator on Medicare Care Compare fact sheet.

Care Compare Update: Additional Doctor and Clinician Facility Affiliation Information Now Included

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated Medicare Care Compare to include doctor and clinician facility affiliation information for the following facility types, as applicable (noting this is in addition to the hospital affiliations previously available):

  • Long-term Care Hospitals (LTCHs)
  • Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs)
  • Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRFs)
  • Home Health Agencies
  • Hospices
  • Dialysis Facilities

This update is especially helpful to patients and caregivers since it:

  • Provides additional information to support patients and caregivers as they make healthcare decisions.
  • Offers information about clinicians who aren’t affiliated with a hospital but work in other types of healthcare facilities.
  • Creates additional quality information linkages between clinicians and facilities across Care Compare pages.

Visit the profile pages in the Doctors and Clinicians section on Care Compare to view this update. The facility affiliations are displayed in a dedicated “Affiliations” section for easy access. Group affiliations will continue to be listed separately in the “Details” section as a fundamental part of a clinician’s profile.

Care Compare Update: Expanded Archive for Doctors and Clinicians - Now Available

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has expanded the archive for Doctors and Clinicians (DAC) in the Provider Data Catalog (PDC) on Care Compare. This expansion allows users to access historic Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) program performance data that were previously publicly reported in the PDC since the program’s inception in 2017.

Prior to this archive expansion, CMS publicly reported one year of MIPS performance data at a time. This update benefits doctors, clinicians, researchers, and other interested parties who want access to all historic MIPS performance data previously publicly reported.

The addition of historic information to CMS’s publicly reported information supports overall data transparency and aligns the types of information reported for all provider settings. Users can access the archive files here.

Caution

CMS strongly cautions users against using the historical data to draw year-to-year performance comparisons. There are several aspects of the MIPS program and public reporting standards that make it inappropriate to make such comparisons – especially of measure-level performance over time. Additional details and information are available in the "MIPS Data Archive on Care Compare: Doctors and Clinicians" fact sheet and disclaimer (PDF).

Need Help?

If you have any questions about public reporting for doctors and clinicians on Care Compare, contact the QPP Service Center at 1-866-288-8292 (Monday-Friday 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET) or by e-mail at QPP@cms.hhs.gov. To receive assistance more quickly, consider calling during non-peak hours (before 10 a.m. and after 2 p.m. ET).

  • Customers who are hard of hearing can dial 711 to be connected to a TRS Communications Assistant.

2022 CMS Quality Conference Poster

During the 2022 CMS Quality Conference held from April 12-13, the Doctors and Clinicians team presented a virtual e-poster, “CMS Continues Phased Approach to Public Reporting for Doctor and Clinician Information on Medicare Care Compare and in the Provider Data Catalog”. The poster provides background on the information reported on Care Compare and in the Provider Data Catalog (PDC) for doctors and clinicians, as well as details on key public reporting milestones, covering performance years 2018 through 2020. The e-poster is available here (PDF). If you have any questions or feedback about public reporting for doctors and clinicians, please email us at QPP@cms.hhs.gov.

Important! Physician Compare has sunset as of December 1, 2020, but you'll still be able to find the same information about doctors and clinicians and other health care providers on Care Compare on Medicare.gov. The Provider Data Catalog (PDC) on CMS.gov also makes it easier for you to search and download our publicly reported data. Start using these tools today.

Contact Us

Do you have questions, suggestions, or other feedback related to public reporting for doctors and clinicians? Contact the Quality Payment Program at 1-866-288-8292 or by e-mail at QPP@cms.hhs.gov.

  • To receive assistance more quickly, consider calling during non-peak hours (before 10 a.m. and after 2 p.m. ET).
  • Customers who are hard of hearing can dial 711 to be connected to a TRS Communications Assistant.

Downloads

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Page Last Modified:
11/13/2023 11:10 AM
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