The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the first three participants in a new data sharing initiative aimed at getting more information to consumers to improve healthcare quality. The organizations in the Medicare Data Sharing for Performance Measurement program are Health Improvement Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati, Kansas City Quality Improvement Consortium (serving the Greater Kansas City area in Missouri and Kansas), and Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation.

“These organizations will make quality and cost information more available and easier to understand for the health care systems in their areas,” Acting CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner said in a statement.  “By allowing these organizations to combine Medicare data with other insurers’ data in public reports, consumers and businesses will have better information on provider performance and providers will have a greater incentive to improve the quality of care.”

The Medicare Data Sharing for Performance Measurement program will have government authorized groups combine the secure Medicare data with private insurance data to create a full report on provider performance. Participating programs who want to receive the data must prove to CMS they can manage and process consumer-focused data and also prevent breaches of protected health information. They also must show cooperation with private insurers.

Here’s more information on CMS’ Qualified Entity Program.