CMS updates Hospital Compare and star ratings

Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services updated its Hospital Compare website and hospital star ratings. The American Hospital Association has expressed objections to the updates since their release.

CMS proposed some additional changes to the hospital star ratings, which it allowed the public to comment on until March 29. The changes would allow more direct comparisons, according to agency officials. A proposed change recommended by some hospitals would place hospitals with similar characteristics into peer groups allowing, for example, small hospitals to be compared to other small hospitals instead of all hospitals, according to CMS.

CMS’ approach to star ratings has been flawed from the outset, said Tom Nickels, AHA executive vice president, in a statement at the time of their release. (The) update has not addressed the major concerns about the methodology and usefulness of the star ratings. That is why the AHA asked CMS to postpone its publication until concerns about the methodology could be remedied. We appreciate that CMS continues to seek comment on changes but would have preferred the agency had waited to release these ratings until a more reliable methodology is in place.

How Hospital Compare works

Hospital Compare uses up to 60 measures and calculates a star rating from one (worst) to five (best) for each hospital. To learn more about how the overall hospital star rating is calculated, click here.

Consumers can use Hospital Compare to search for information about the quality of care at Medicare-certified hospitals.

The Hospital Compare website and star ratings system are valuable consumer tools that provide helpful and important information on the safety and quality of our nation’s hospitals, CMS administrator Seema Verma said in a statement. These decision-making tools offer greater transparency on hospital performance for a wide variety of users — patients, caregivers, families and the broader healthcare industry.

How Michigan hospitals rate

Here’s how Michigan hospitals fared in the recent update:

Five stars: 11 hospitals
Four stars: 51 hospitals
Three stars: 37 hospitals
Two stars: 13 hospitals
One star: four hospitals

Over the past three years, the number of five-star hospitals in Michigan has increased. In 2018, there were 10 five-star hospitals, up from five in 2017.

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