CMS Delays Hospital Ratings – No Stars Yet

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) postponed publication of its hospital ratings after numerous members of Congress objected to the rating system's possible unfairness. The publication may now be published this month, but could see delay if there is additional pressure from industry and/or Congress. Originally, CMS had planned to release a new star ratings system on Hospital Compare on April 21. The current star ratings, which went live in April 2015, incorporate only patient experience scores, and the new overall star ratings intend to include quality measures such as readmissions, mortality, effectiveness of care and timeliness of care in addition to patient experience scores. In its announcement to delay the publication, CMS said it developed its methodology in coordination with many stakeholders, but it would delay the overall star ratings release in response to "targeted concerns about specific calculations" and feedback from stakeholders. Congress is a major source of these concerns. "Many prominent hospitals that are in the top echelon of other quality rating reports, and handle the most complex procedures and patients, will receive one or two stars (out of possible five), indicating that they have the poorest quality in comparison to other hospitals," lawmakers wrote to CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt in an April 18 letter signed by 225 members of Congress. The lawmakers' specific concerns included CMS' insufficient disclosure of its me...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs