On September 3 CMS launched a
new interface that combines its eight "Compare" tools for helping patients find appropriate medical care and facilities online.
The new site,
Care Compare, combines the services previously offered by Physician Compare, Hospital Compare, Dialysis Facility Compare, Hospice Compare, Inpatient Rehab Facility Compare, Nursing Home Compare, Home Health Compare, and Long-Term Care Hospital Compare.
"By offering a user-friendly interface and a simple design that is optimized for mobile and tablet use," says CMS in its announcement, "it is easier than ever to find information that is important to patients when shopping for healthcare."
In addition to locating services in the beneficiary's area and allowing them to compare care and patient satisfaction ratings among them, Care Compare offers enhancements that include clickable phone numbers in the mobile version and "a checklist with common questions and considerations when selecting a nursing home," according to the agency.
A quick tour of the site shows a new uniformity of graphics and navigation among the sites, with easy-to-use service area maps by Mapbox.
"While the measures and data used for Care Compare have not changed, the way information is displayed is now different," says CMS.
CMS also lauded some new online tools and apps it had previously developed for beneficiary care-shopping, including a
“What’s Covered” app that allows users to see whether Medicare covers various items or services, which was
first announced in February of 2019, and a
Procedure Price Lookup site that was announced in
November 2018.