Doctor Payments: Public Information?

One reason, then, for CMS to release more detailed information on Medicare payments — down to the procedures billed by individual doctors — would be to give researchers more data to make comparisons between doctors, hospitals, and regions. While it's entirely possible — and even likely — that certain areas of the country are sicker than others (when it comes to Type 2 nurse anesthetist salary diabetes , this is undeniably true ), it is also possible that the medical or corporate culture in certain regions or individual hospitals leads to more procedures being performed and billed to Medicare. A recent survey of doctors found them fairly split on the question of whether Medicare payment information should be made public: 42% supported the idea, while 46% opposed it; 12% weren't sure. What do you think — would releasing detailed Medicare payment information violate doctors' privacy, or does the public's interest in taxpayer money being spent wisely override this concern? Would you be concerned if you found out that your doctor billed significantly more, or less, to Medicare than is typical? Do you think public scrutiny could push doctors who bill Medicare too freely to change the way they practice medicine?visit http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/Blog/feed/doctor-payments-public-information/ for original article for this topic.