“American Medical News” recently released a news article that emphasized the importance of accuracy in terms of medical data patients research and use in order to find the best patient care to address and resolve injuries and illnesses.

The article stated that “following a mandate in the health system reform law, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services unveiled a proposed rule in June that would allow certain research firms and other qualified organizations access to Medicare billing data to develop public quality report cards on physicians, hospitals and others.”

Patients use such information when searching for various physician services as well as to research physicians’ backgrounds.

According to the article physicians might not be too keen on this policy, “because the federal data would be combined with claims information from private insurers, it is potentially the biggest single release of individual physicians’ information to date, and it raises a host of worrisome issues for doctors.”

All in all, the mandate is really just another precaution and safeguard for patients.

“If these safeguards aren’t put in place, patients who view inaccurate or misleading report cards would be at risk for more than just wasted time. They might make decisions not to see the doctors who — despite what the quality assessments would seem to indicate — would provide the best care for their particular situations. Patients deserve more certainty and better guidance than that,” said a health expert in the story.