Since around 2014, CMS has annually released data on physician and laboratory utilization, as well as separately collated utilization data on DME suppliers. The release involved a FOIA lawsuit and I believe Wall Street Journal and ProPublica were either both involved, or, both were early users of the data.
Because the Trump Administration places great emphasis on transparency at CMS, even against lawsuits, I would expect the 2018 version of the database to appear soon now in 2020.
It seems later this year, though, than in recent years. The database home page (part of data.cms.gov) is here. The full name of the data set with lab data is Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data: Physician and Other Supplier.
For CY2015, the dataset was created in February 2017, and updated in September 2017 (88K views).
For CY2016, the dataset was created in May 2018, and updated later in May 2018 (75K views).
For CY2017, the dataset was created in May 2019, updated in June 2019 (64K views).
When will day for CY2018 be released? October 2020? November 2020? Ever? Never? See CMS comment here.
