This website also displays information on Hospital Outcome of Care Measures. The Hospital Outcome of Care Measures includes the 30-day Risk Adjusted Death (Mortality) and Readmission Rates for patients with Medicare who were admitted to the hospital for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia. The 30-day period is used because this is the time period when deaths are most likely to be related to the care patients received in the hospital.

CMS compiles this information from claims and enrollment data for patients in Original (fee-for-service) Medicare. It does not include people in Medicare Advantage plans or people who do not have Medicare.

Hospital Compare displays the Survey of Patients’ Hospital Experiences, using data collected from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) Survey. The intent of the HCAHPS initiative is to provide a standardized survey instrument and data collection methodology for measuring patients’ perspectives on hospital care.

This website also displays Medicare inpatient hospital payment information and the number of Medicare patients treated (volume) for certain illnesses or diagnoses Medicare Severity-Diagnosis Related Group (MS-DRG). Hospital Compare shows information for each hospital on selected MS-DRGs from October 2007 through September 2008.

This information helps you, your health care provider, family, and friends compare the quality of care provided in the hospitals that agree to submit data on the quality of certain services they provide for certain conditions. This quality information not only helps you make good decisions about your health care, but also encourages hospitals to improve the quality of health care they provide.

Quality information is not available on this website for psychiatric, rehabilitation or long-term care hospitals because they generally do not treat patients for heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia, or perform surgeries.

The Hospital Compare website was created through the efforts of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), along with the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA). The HQA is a public-private collaboration established to promote reporting on hospital quality of care. The HQA consists of organizations that represent consumers, hospitals, doctors and nurses, employers, accrediting organizations, and Federal agencies. The information on this website can be used by any patients needing hospital care.

Hospital Compare displays rates for Process of Care measures that show whether or not hospitals provide some of the care that is recommended for patients being treated for a heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, asthma (children only) or patients having surgery. Hospitals voluntarily submit data from medical records about the treatments their patients receive for these conditions. The data include patients with Medicare, those enrolled in Medicare health plans, and those who don’t have Medicare.