What is Affordability?

For doctors* in BlueCompare, Affordability is a comparison on how they managed costs to treat similar patients. We compare doctors to their peers in the same specialty and part of the state. The costs we use include all types of services (labs, X-rays, hospital charges, etc.) and not just the office visit charge.

Because we use only our claims data, a doctor's BlueCompare scale may not reflect his/her performance for all patients. 

BlueCompare is not meant to tell you which doctor you should select. This is a very personal choice, and you should not decide based only on BlueCompare information.

For doctors, here is what the BlueCompare scales mean:

	The cost of care managed by this doctor or other provider is more affordable compared to peers.
	The cost of care managed by this doctor or other provider is somewhat more affordable compared to peers
	The cost of care managed by this doctor or other provider is about average compared to peers.
	The cost of care managed by this doctor or other provider is somewhat less affordable compared to peers.
	The cost of care managed by this doctor or other provider is less affordable compared to peers.

Why do some doctors not have a BlueCompare scale? 
Some doctors do not have a scale for one of the following reasons: 

• We did not have enough data to measure the doctor
• The doctor practices in a specialty we don't review. Here is a list of the specialties and provider types we don't review:

Anesthesiology	Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist	Maternal & Fetal Medicine
Clinical Psychologist	Neonatology
Critical Care Medicine	Oral Pathology
Dermatopathology	Pathology
Emergency Medicine	Pediatric Subspecialties
Hyperbaric Medicine	Psychiatry
Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor	Radiology
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor	Social Worker

Clinic/Group Practices:   The BlueCompare scale is based on the measure of all the doctors in the group. Each doctor will have the same BlueCompare scale.

NOTE:  For evaluation purposes, a doctor is normally assigned to a single specialty. If he/she receives a BlueCompare scale, and appears under other specialties, that scale may appear for all specialties under which he/she is listed.

* In this Affordability section, the term 'doctor' includes other health care professionals.