The Physician Compare Web Site

Gone are the days when a dermatologist’s reputation is derived solely from the word-of-mouth referrals of patients and other physicians. Section 10331 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) mandated that the secretary of the US Department of Health & Human Services was to develop a Physician Compare Web site by January 1, 2011. Unlike the Hospital Compare Web site, which was launched in 2004 through the efforts of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as something of a public-private partnership between hospital associations, government bodies, and private organizations (eg, The Joint Commission), the Physician Compare Web site was specifically mandated by the PPACA.