Methodology
JCIPatientSafety.org presents public data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Provider Data Catalog. We do not calculate ratings - CMS does - and we do not modify the underlying scores.
Reviewed by JCIPatientSafety.org Editorial Team · Last reviewed 2026-07-14.
Where the data comes from
All hospital identity fields (name, address, phone, ownership, type, emergency services), the overall star rating, and every measure score shown on this site come from the official CMS Provider Data Catalog (formerly Hospital Compare). CMS publishes these files quarterly. Each hospital page shows the "Data as of" date for the release used.
The overall star rating
CMS's overall star rating combines up to 47 quality measures grouped into five categories: mortality, safety, readmission, patient experience, and timely & effective care. Hospitals must report enough measures in enough categories to receive a rating. Some reporting hospitals - including most psychiatric and long-term-care facilities - do not receive an overall star even when they report rich underlying measures. Where CMS does not assign a rating, we say so explicitly.
The measure categories
- Healthcare-Associated Infections - Rates of infections patients can acquire while receiving care, such as central-line and catheter-associated infections, MRSA, and C. difficile.
- Complications & Deaths - Rates of serious complications (like hip/knee replacement problems or accidental cuts during surgery) and 30-day mortality rates for common conditions.
- Unplanned Hospital Visits & Readmissions - How often patients return to the hospital unexpectedly within 30 days of discharge — a marker of care quality and discharge planning.
- Patient Experience (HCAHPS) - What patients say about their hospital stay — communication with nurses and doctors, responsiveness, cleanliness, pain management, and whether they would recommend the hospital.
- Timely & Effective Care - How consistently hospitals follow recommended care processes — for example, giving heart-attack patients aspirin on arrival, or the average time spent in the emergency department.
- Maternal Health - Measures of maternal outcomes and safe delivery practices, including severe complications during childbirth.
Content tiers on this site
We display every US hospital in the CMS files, but we present them differently depending on how much data CMS publishes:
- Full: hospital has a 1–5 overall star rating and reported measures.
- Data: hospital reports rich measures but no overall star; measures shown, star omitted.
- Directory: psychiatric and long-term facilities without published measure data; listed on state and category pages for discoverability but individual pages are not indexed.
What we do not do
We do not add opinion, rank hospitals by our own criteria, or accept payment for placement. See our editorial policy for the full independence standards. This site is not medical advice; talk to a qualified clinician for care decisions.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-14.