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CMS Updates Hospital Star Ratings, Seeks Comments on Proposed Changes to Methodology

Comments due March 29, national provider call to be held tomorrow

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Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated its overall hospital quality star ratings on Hospital Compare, which were last updated in December 2017.

CMS is also seeking comment on proposed changes to the hospital star ratings methodology.

Specifically, CMS is asking for feedback on:

  • The way it groups measures
  • A potential transition to reporting star ratings once a year, rather than twice as it currently does
  • Calculating and presenting rating results based on “peer groups” (hospitals with similar characteristics)
  • Whether  two star ratings — one overall based on all hospitals and a separate rating based on peer groupings — should be generated

A complete list of questions posed by CMS is available online. Comments are due March 29.  

CMS will hold a national provider call on March 6 at 10 a.m. (PT) to discuss the update and proposed changes. Registration is not required, but participants are asked to dial-in 15 minutes ahead of time at (800) 837-1935, conference ID 3934159. A transcript and recording will be posted online at a later date.