Medicare releases new Care-Compare tool

As part of the eMedicare initiatives, CMS recently launched a new Care-Compare tool.

This tool allows you to search for Medicare-Participating Providers: Doctors, Specialists, Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Home Health Services, and more.

The interface is pretty slick and aligns with the mobile-optimized launch of the Medicare Plan Finder tool in 2019.

You can search by Keywords (e.g. Cardiovascular, Knee Injury, etc.) and identify providers in your area that participate with Medicare.  

There is a nice Map feature so you can see where each of the Providers are located.

You can select up to 3 providers to "Compare".

The Compare allows the user to see:

• Distance from Location
• Accepts Medicare Assignment?
• Specialties
• Sex
• Board Certifications
• Education
• Hospital Affiliations
• ...and More

Important NOTE: This tool is only for Original Medicare providers. If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan,  the Provider Lookup Tools on the Carrier Website for your Medicare Advantage Plan would have to be used to find Participating Providers.

Overall, I think the new Care Compare tool is a good tool for searching for Medicare Participating Providers in a particular area for a specific need.  I look forward to additional data elements being added to the Comparison charts (e.g. Reviews, Ratings, etc.), and updates to include Medicare Advantage Plan Providers in the future.