Late last week, CMS launched the first phase of a searchable online physician directory for Medicare patients called Physician Compare and located at www.medicare.gov/find-a-doctor. However, the site is publicly available for non-Medicare patients to also peruse.

Patients may use the site to search for physicians in their area, find information on other health care professionals who work with Medicare beneficiaries, search by gender, and elect a preference for providers who accept Medicare approved amounts as payment in full.  The site also lists whether a physician participates in the Physician Quality Reporting System.  Future iterations of the site will incorporate data about the quality of care received by Medicare patients from that individual.

NCMS urges physicians and practices to access Physician Compare and confirm the accuracy and completeness of the information that is available.  Some NC practices have already discovered that CMS has posted incomplete and misleading information.

Should you find incorrect information, the Physician Compare site offers a mechanism to address incorrect/missing information.  From the main site, http://www.medicare.gov/find-a-doctor/provider-search.aspx, click where it says “Note to Providers” on the top left of the screen.  That will take you to a troubleshooting page that will recommend certain actions to get the discrepancy resolved.