Quality ratings are based on information from hospitals about how well they provide care and from patient survey results about their experience in the hospital. There are four types of quality ratings included on the site: recommended care, results of care, practice patterns, and patient experience. This report shows hospitals’ quality ratings on several different topics, including patient safety and specific health conditions. The ratings come from three different sources:
You can select hospitals in two ways:
Quality ratings are organized into topics by health condition or by information that people are interested in, such as patient safety or patient experience with care.
For more information on the ratings included in each topic,visit Rating Details.
To learn more about planning your care, visit Taking Care of Myself: A Guide for When I Leave the Hospital
Health topics include different types of ratings that measure different aspects of health care quality. In the quality ratings table, each tab shows one type of rating. Not all types of ratings are available for every health topic. Some of the different types of ratings are explained below.
MONAHRQ does not analyze information to calculate quality ratings’ rates. Quality ratings with pre-calculated rates from multiple sources can be imported to MONAHRQ. These rates are compared with national and state benchmark for reporting. Below is the list of the information sources used in MONAHRQ:
A hospital is rated by comparing it to a national or state average of other hospitals. Ratings are assigned using two different methods. The key at the top of the quality ratings table tells you which method is used.
For the AHRQ Quality Indicators and CMS Hospital Compare ratings in "Results of care" and "Practice patterns," the ratings are determined by comparing the hospital’s score to the state or national average score:
This method includes a statistical test for most ratings. We only rate a hospital as better or worse than average when we are at least 95% confident we are correct. Otherwise, we rate the hospital as average. Experts believe that being 95% confident is acceptable.
For the CMS Hospital Compare ratings in the "Recommended care" group and the HCAHPS patient experiences ratings. Hospitals are assigned a rating of better, average, or below. The ratings are determined by comparing the hospital’s score to the scores of other hospitals:
A hospital is rated by comparing it to other hospitals. You can compare hospitals with the rest of the nation or with other hospitals in My State. The default is to compare hospitals in My State. To change this use the buttons "Compare Results To:"
Nationwide benchmarks are calculated by AHRQ based on analysis of 44 states from the 2010 AHRQ's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) State Inpatient Databases (SID). Because the national comparison information comes from AHRQ, and the information MONAHRQ uses to calculate the individual indicators values is local, the years of these two datasets may be different.
Local comparisons are calculated directly by MONAHRQ based on information from hospitals in My State. MONAHRQ calculates the comparison values and individual AHRQ Quality Indicators from the same dataset.
Nationwide comparisons are calculated by CMS based on information they collect directly from hospitals for Hospital Compare. CMS calculates the comparison values and individual rating values from the same dataset.
Local comparisons are calculated directly by MONAHRQ based on information from the CMS Hospital Compare Website. The comparison values and individual rating come from the same source.
Risk adjustment is a statistical process of accounting for how sick patients are before they enter the hospital. In some hospitals, there are more very sick patients, and this may affect their ratings. Risk adjustment aims to “level the playing field” by accounting for health risks that patients in a given hospital have, compared to the typical level of health risks.
AHRQ Quality Indicators: Most AHRQ Quality Indicators are risk adjusted. To learn which indicators are risk adjusted, visit Measure Details. For more information on the risk adjustment methods used for the AHRQ QIs, visit the AHRQ QI Website.
CMS Hospital Compare ratings: Hospital Compare ratings in the "Results of care" group are risk adjusted. Other Hospital Compare ratings are not risk adjusted. For more information on the risk adjustment methods used by Hospital Compare, visit the Hospital Compare Website.
HCAHPS patient experience ratings: HCAHPS ratings are adjusted for the effects of both mode of survey administration and patient mix
The ratings tables show quality ratings for hospitals. You can use this information to help you choose a hospital. The best way is to search for patterns in the ratings. Some hospitals do well in all areas. Others do well in some areas but not others. Still others show problems everywhere. Look for these patterns. At the same time, if there is a surgery, medical condition, or health risk that is of particular concern to you, you should give more weight to information related to those concerns.
Each row shows the ratings for one hospital. To sort rows by hospital, select "Hospital Name." Each column shows the results for one quality rating. To sort the ratings, select a rating name. The ratings tables are divided into tabs that show ratings by type, such as "Results of care" or "Recommended care." A hospital is rated by comparing it to other hospitals. The selection box "Select a comparison group" shows you which group of hospitals you're using for comparison.
Some hospital ratings are per 100 cases, or per 1,000 cases, or are counts of how many times a procedure or condition has occurred. The information icon for each hospital rating has more information.
Why are health care costs important?
Most people pay for at least part of their health care themselves. Side-by-side information about cost and quality can help people determine which provider will provide high-quality care at a reasonable cost.
What is the relationship between cost and quality?
Many things affect the cost of health care. Higher costs do not necessarily mean that a provider is offering higher-quality care. You can find a provider who offers high quality care at an affordable cost. Seeing cost and quality information side by side can help people make an informed choice.
How are health care costs reported on this website?
This website shows the average total dollars that a hospital spent for patients who were treated for a particular condition. It is important to note that this is not the same as what a patient or an insurance company might be billed for this type of treatment or procedure. Some patients will require more complicated care than others. Some will use different types of equipment, or stay for longer or shorter amounts of time.
How can I use this cost information?
The costs listed on this website might be more or less than what an individual patient might be charged. People also might be responsible for paying different amounts themselves, depending on what type of health insurance they have. However, looking at the costs can provide useful information about whether a provider charges more or less on average than other providers in the area. Looking at cost along with quality ratings can provide useful information about which providers offer high-value care: good care at a reasonable price.
How are cost scores calculated?
This website calculates the average cost of all patients who were discharged from a hospital after getting treatment for a particular condition. Some people might need more or less care, so not every patient has the same costs. The average does not include cases that are very different from usual treatment, so the cost shown is a good reflection of what costs might be for an average patient.