CMS is requesting public comment on how it can appropriately disclose individual physician payment data.
CMS is considering its policy for disclosing the data after a federal judge lifted a 1979 injunction that barred the release of individual physicians' annual Medicare payments. That court decision stems from a January 2011 request from Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper had published a series of articles that identified millions of dollars in fraud by Medicare providers.
HHS still has a policy regarding the release of individual physician data, which it adopted in 1980. It states that "the public interest in the individuality identified payment amounts is not sufficient to compel disclosure in view of the privacy interests of the physicians." But given the recent court decision to vacate the 1979 injunction, CMS is now seeking public input on whether and how to modify its 1980 policy.
Specifically, CMS is seeking input on whether physicians have a privacy interest in the payment information, what specific policies CMS should consider to disclose payments while furthering care quality, transparency and fraud reduction, and the form in which CMS should release individual payment data.
CMS is accepting comments until Sept. 5.
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