Physician Compare Initiative

Physician Compare Web Site Overview – Information for Professionals

The Physician Compare Web site was launched December 30, 2010, to meet requirements set forth by Section 10331 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The Physician Compare Web site serves as a healthcare professional directory on Medicare.gov, the official U.S. Government Site for people with Medicare. The site currently allows individuals to search for a physician or other healthcare professional by specialty, type of professional, and location. Additional search criteria allow the user to search by gender and whether or not the healthcare professional accepts the Medicare-approved amount as payment in full on all claims. Other information available includes languages spoken, group practice locations, education, and hospital affiliation. Information on the Physician Compare Web site is updated monthly.

The Physician Compare Web site also includes information about physicians and other professionals who satisfactorily participated in the Physician Quality Reporting System (formerly known as Physician Quality Reporting Initiative) and those who successfully participated in the Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program. The Web site does not yet contain physician and eligible professional performance information. CMS is required to implement a plan for making information on physician performance publicly available through Physician Compare by January 1, 2013. The reporting period can begin no earlier than January 1, 2012.

To meet requirements set forth in the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), a list with the names and state of eligible professionals who satisfactorily reported Physician Quality Reporting System measures for the 2009 program year is available by clicking on the link titled "List of Eligible Professionals who Satisfactorily Reported Physician Quality Reporting System Measures for the 2009 Program Year" in the "Downloads" section below.  A list with the name and state of eligible professionals who successfully reported the eRx measure for the 2009 program year is also available by clicking on the link titled "Eligible Professional Who Successfully Reported eRx Measures for 2009 Program Year" in the "Downloads" section below.

To populate these files, CMS cross matched the National Provider Identifiers (NPI's) of eligible professionals who satisfactorily reported Physician Quality Reporting System measures and/or successfully reported the eRx measure for the 2009 program year to Medicare Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) to identify the name and state associated with each NPI. If no name and/or state was found to be associated with NPI in PECOS, then the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) was referenced for name and state identification.

Click on Physician Quality Reporting System under the "Related Links Inside CMS" section below for information about the Physician Quality Reporting System and on which professionals are eligible to participate. Click on the Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program link below for information on the eRx Incentive Program.

To access the Physician Compare Web site, go to the "Related Links Outside CMS" section below.