On June 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) announced the third annual release of Medicare
hospital utilization and payment data and the second annual release
of physician and supplier utilization and payment data. (The
prior year's data releases were discussed
here.) The 2013 hospital utilization and payment data covers
more than 3,000 U.S. hospitals that received approximately $52
million in Medicare payments for certain inpatient and outpatient
services. The 2013 physician and supplier utilization and payment
data includes information related to more than 950,000 healthcare
providers that received approximately $90 billion in Medicare
payments.
The data releases are intended to provide researchers, providers
and the public with greater access to information related to the
delivery of healthcare and to Medicare spending. According to the
CMS announcement, the data releases are part of an initiative to
increase the quality of healthcare and to inform spending by
patients and consumers.
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