Medicare data on hospitals, doctors made available

The Wisconsin Health Information Organization – a statewide group that has been at the forefront of analyzing insurance claims to lessen the variation in the cost and quality of health care – applauded the federal government’s move on Monday to allow access to Medicare’s claims database. “The very good news is the state has some good initiatives that will benefit from getting access to Medicare claims data,” said Julie Bartels, chief executive of the organization. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 12/6)