Medicare Hospital Compare Update To Star Ratings Cuts Number Of Five Star Hospitals By One-Third

In a recent update to the Medicare Hospital Compare ratings, the number of hospitals awarded the maximum five stars dropped by about one-third, from 336 in July 2015 to 207.  The update added hospital scores on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) to the ratings for the second time; the first was in April 2015.

The 207 five-star hospitals represent about 6% of the 3,539 Medicare-certified acute-care hospitals in October 2015.  For this most recent update to the star ratings, CMS included 11 different patient-ranked HCAHPS categories for the reporting . . .