CMS Physician Compare Site-Same as Websites For Profit? Same MD Convicted of Medicare Fraud and Dead Chimney Doctor on the List

Well if you read the Medical Quack often enough you know that I have poked around these site a bit as I want to check for accuracy after finding my former doctor who had been dead for 7 years still listed. I think everyone got the word via this blog and she does not appear any more but the other 2 that I have blogged about are on this list too. Below is Dr. Justice who admitted committing Medicare fraud and is to be sentenced in February, site still shows him accepting Medicare as full payment. I did look though and the state has not revoked his license yet! Is a sentencing date and admission of Medicare fraud (and this was his second time) not enough?

Dr. Justice’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 28. He previously served as the director of the cancer center at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley, Calif. You might be able to still get an appointment if you pay cash I guess as I don’t think he can still bill Medicare.

Avvo Physician Rating Service Can’t Get Accurate Information Listed on Doctors - One OC Oncologist Sitting in Jail for Fraud

Prominent Orange County Oncologist Pleads Guilty to Medicare/Insurance Fraud – Over $1 Million

Here’s the information about the “Dead Chimney Doctor” from Bakersfield and there’s a video at the link below.

California Doctor Who Passed Away in September With Being Stuck in a Chimney Still Searchable on MD Referral Sites

Is everyone drinking the same “data base” Kool Aid here?

Well at least I know CMS is not trying to profit like HealthGrades and Avvo and a bunch others by selling data and getting consumers to pay for subscriptions to get detailed information beyond what is listed. HealthGrades made millions and was bought up a few months ago by a private equity group. The AMA and I even had a nice chat about these site and specifically at that time about my former “dead doctor” that had never been removed from the data base at that time.

I just hope CMS is not getting bilked on having to pay for this with the errors found here as it is all our tax dollars and furthermore hope they are not having to pay a company like HealthGrades for the use of the data or license.

I am glad they are looking into getting their own data infrastructure updated as we have 8 year of ignore basically from the prior administration. It’s ok to have listings but if you have read my former posts too on this topic we found a guy from an IPA who never practiced medicine listed along with many retired doctors and a few other dead doctors listed, which was contributed by doctors who read here.

CMS need to connect to the Social Security Death Index as again we don’t want dead doctors billing any more charges like what happened in 2009. People wanting to commit fraud mine this data too and look for loopholes with inaccurate or non updated information so in essence having the ratings as they are with out being indexed and checked for accuracy can be a big enticement for fraud.

Dead Doctors and Inaccurate MD Listings On the Web Can Be a Real Hunting Ground of Information to Mine For Crooks Relative to Fraudulent Medical Billing

So at this point do we need this and run the gambit of exposing more data for fraudulent use or give it up? The ratings are not fair and doctors hate it anyway and for good reason. One oncologist I know felt so bad for former doctors he used to compete against got on the web and gave them some nice ratings so their web presence wouldn’t suffer because he knew what was on the web was not right.

On a related topic with folks not getting their data straight, the City of Buffalo paid out over 2 Million for insurance premiums on dead employees with never a mention from the insurer about any annual mammograms or other preventive services and I hear that from doctors all the time too that they get them, but a few on patients who have passed away a few years prior.

City of Buffalo Has Paid Over $2 Million to Provide Health Insurance for Hundreds of Dead People-Some as Many as 4 Years

I’m just a data person here and with the full on demand for accurate data and transparency with consumers, the other side needs to be shown as well so we can all get accurate data and this is especially important when insurance companies hang something over your head that is not accurate and entered years ago by a healthcare facility. There are mistakes all over the place and to hold consumers to the fire as what has happened the last couple of years is wrong as insurers go with a straight and dry algorithm and many times the information used by insurance companies to score you is rattled with errors too. BD

Algorithms to rate Doctors are flawed all over the web.

WASHINGTON – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Thursday improvements to its Physician Directory tool with the launch of the first phase of its Physician Compare website, which provides consumers with more information about providers including data about quality of care.
The Physician Compare website was required by the Affordable Care Act of 2010, and contains information about physicians enrolled in the Medicare program, including doctors of medicine, osteopathy, optometry, podiatric medicine, and chiropractic. The site also contains information about other types of health professionals who routinely care for Medicare beneficiaries, including nurse practitioners, clinical psychologists, registered dietitians, physical therapists, physician assistants and occupational therapists.

CMS launches first phase of Physician Compare site | Healthcare IT News