Sensitivity of Medicare Data to Identify Oncologists.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Health services researchers have studied how care from oncologists impacts treatment and outcomes for cancer patients. These studies frequently identify physician specialty using files from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) or the American Medical Association (AMA). The completeness of the CMS data resources, individually or combined, to identify oncologists is unknown. This study assessed the sensitivity of CMS data to capture oncologists included in the AMA Physician Masterfile.

Methods

Oncologists were identified from three CMS data resources: physician claims, the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System Registry, and the Medicare Data on Provider Practice and Specialty file. CMS files and AMA data were linked using a unique physician id

SUBMITTER: Warren JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7868031 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature