Editorial and data review policy
Our comparisons should make public Medicare data easier to understand without making the data sound newer, broader, or more conclusive than it is.
Our comparisons should make public Medicare data easier to understand without making the data sound newer, broader, or more conclusive than it is.
Who
MedCostCompare is an independent public-data project operated by ClayWare, LLC. Data pages are produced by the MedCostCompare data team using the process described here and on the methodology page.
A page should name an outside expert reviewer only when that person has actually reviewed the relevant methodology or content and has approved the use of their name and credentials. Until then, MedCostCompare describes its work as data analysis, not medical review or medical advice.
Source dates
The displayed comparisons use the CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners provider-and-service release published in 2026, covering services delivered during calendar year 2024.
Each comparison must identify both the 2026 source-release year and the 2024 service year. We do not describe historical claims as a current provider quote or as a complete patient price for the release year.
How
Procedure concepts and included billing codes are confirmed before publication. Automated scripts then apply the documented provider, service-volume, setting, suppression, and publication rules to the CMS records. Generated values must remain traceable to the local project database and the read-only CMS source database.
Automation and AI-assisted research may help identify candidate codes or draft explanatory copy. They do not replace manual approval of published code sets, source-backed values, or substantive page copy.
Claims
MedCostCompare may describe Medicare service volume, Medicare-approved amounts, care setting, and observed variation when the source data supports those statements. Claims volume is not a quality score, proof of experience, proof that a provider currently offers a service, or a recommendation.
Professional, facility, anesthesia, pathology, medication, imaging, and other bill components must be identified separately unless the data supports a complete episode calculation. A component amount must not be presented as a patient’s total cost.
Funding and independence
MedCostCompare may be supported by advertising. Advertisers do not determine which procedures, areas, providers, or organizations appear; they do not change publication thresholds, ordering, calculations, or editorial conclusions; and they do not review or approve page content before publication.
Review
Before an indexable data page is published or materially updated, it should pass source-value validation, suppressed-provider checks, code-set review, release/service-year checks, metadata and canonical checks, internal-link checks, and checks for unsupported quality language or copy from the wrong procedure.
Pages should show the source release and service year. A substantive review date or named reviewer should appear only when the corresponding review has been recorded. Rebuilding a page without changing its analysis is not a substantive review.
Corrections
If a price, provider, facility, code, date, or explanation appears wrong or confusing, use the contact page and include the page URL and the specific issue. We review corrections against the source data and update the calculation, copy, or suppression records when warranted.
Primary source
The primary source dataset is CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners — by Provider and Service. The methodology page explains the filters and calculations applied to the identified release.