Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

Physician Notes:

Care Compare Is Up and Running

Hint: Quality monitoring remains status quo.

Whether or not you were ready to move on, the old Compare sites are now defunct.

On Dec. 1, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) permanently retired the old Compare sites. The new Care Compare option combines the eight former compare tools in one user-friendly place, making it easier for both providers and patients to research the various healthcare alternatives.

The Care Compare categories include: doctors and clinicians; hospitals; nursing homes and rehab; home health services; hospice; inpatient rehabilitation facilities; long-term care hospitals; and dialysis centers.

“You will still be able to find information about healthcare providers and CMS quality data on Care Compare, as well as download CMS publicly reported data from the Provider Data Catalog on CMS.gov,” instructs an agency alert. “Fully transitioning to these tools does not change how CMS measures quality. In addition, we’ll continue to make improvements to Care Compare and the Provider Data Catalog based on stakeholder and consumer feedback now and in the future.”

Find Care Compare at www.medicare.gov/care-compare and review the Provider Data Catalog at https://data.cms.gov/provider-data .