A poll from the American College of Physician Executives questioned whether Medicare should release payment data to individual physicians, with the answers relatively split.
Among ACPE members responding to the survey, 46 percent said "No" and 42 percent said "Yes." The remaining 12 percent were unsure. CMS recently made the hospital chargemaster data public and is currently soliciting feedback on whether physician payment should remain private.
Those who say it shouldn't be released feel the data is too easily misinterpreted by the public and could shed an unfair light on physicians. Reimbursement depends on several factors, including geographic location, type of procedures performed and cost of medication.
Those who were in favor of releasing the data said the public has right to know about how taxpayer dollars are spent, according to an organization news release.
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