The CareDash patient profile is created from Medicare Physician and Other Supplier Data, which provides records of Medicare utilization throughout the United States. While patient identifying information is not included in the data, it does include aggregate information about the patients of different providers.

Using this data, we can detect when the patients of a doctor have certain conditions more frequently than the patients of similar doctors. These conditions go into our Patient Profile in order to help consumers make more informed choices. While this data can provide a wealth of knowledge, it comes with certain limitations.

The data is limited to Medicare beneficiaries, meaning that physicians that do not accept Medicare (<10% of all physicians) will be excluded. It may also be skewed towards conditions more common among Medicare beneficiaries than the general population. Recommendations provided by CareDash indicate that the doctor has experience treating that condition directly, or experience treating patients for various conditions.

A lack of detection does not necessarily mean a lack of expertise, just that it was not visible within this dataset. Always check with your doctor before making any decisions.

Data in this section is calculated using Medicare Physician and Other Supplier Data, which provides records of Medicare utilization throughout the United States. It includes aggregate information about the procedures performed by different providers.

Using this data, we can detect when doctors perform certain procedures more frequently than similar providers. These procedures go into our Procedure Rankings in order to help consumers make more informed choices. We display the percentages and rankings of the provider for performing a particular procedure. For example, a Top 1% ranking would mean that a provider performs a particular procedure more often than 99% of similar doctors in the area. While this data can provide a wealth of knowledge, it comes with certain limitations.

The data is limited to Medicare beneficiaries, meaning that physicians that do not accept Medicare (<10% of all physicians) will be excluded. It may also be skewed towards procedures more common among Medicare beneficiaries than the general population.

A lack of detection does not necessarily mean a lack of expertise, just that it was not visible within this dataset. Always check with your doctor before making any decisions.

This feature shows the financial relationships between doctors and pharmaceutical and medical device companies. The U.S. government collects extensive records about these relationships. Some examples include:

• Consulting fees that companies pay to doctors, to get their input about their products and research
• Companies paying doctors to speak about their products at conferences
• Companies taking doctors out to dinner to tell them about a new drug or medical device
• Companies paying for travel, hotel rooms, and food at medical conferences

The U.S. government collects and publishes these records due to concerns about conflicts of interest. However, CareDash does not believe that these transfers of value necessarily mean a doctor is ethically compromised. Eating sponsored food at conferences and speaking on behalf of pharmaceutical companies are not the same thing. Further, we believe that there are doctors who have success with companies' products, get paid to speak about them, and are still foremost devoted to successful patient outcomes.

Therefore, in addition to showing the payments information, we provide some context, such as the median amount for doctors of that specialty, to help users assess potential conflicts of interest. We encourage users to discuss this information with their doctors.

Data in this section is calculated using Open Payments data, collected by Medicare as part of the Affordable Care Act. This data contains detailed records about payments and other transfers of value from pharmaceutical and medical device companies to doctors.

Although the Open Payments program is administered by Medicare, it covers almost all doctors in the United States, including those who do not accept Medicare insurance.