CMS releases data on Medicare providers/suppliers; home health, ambulance use

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today released data on Medicare-enrolled providers and suppliers, and a mapping tool showing the availability and use of ambulance and home health services by region. The provider data will be updated quarterly from the Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System to “provide a clear and transparent way for providers, suppliers, state Medicaid programs, private payers and other interested individuals or organizations to leverage Medicare provider enrollment data,” CMS said. The mapping tool shows national, state and county-level data on the availability of Medicare fee-for-service home health providers and ground ambulance suppliers; the number of beneficiaries who use those services; and regions with moratoria on new providers and suppliers in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Future data releases may include comparable information on additional health services outside the seven moratoria areas. “By introducing data mapping for these specific, high-risk providers and suppliers in the moratoria areas and, for the first time, making service area data on all other FFS providers and suppliers publicly available, analyses of the data offers additional insight for CMS and its stakeholders,” said CMS Deputy Administrator Shantanu Agrawal, M.D.