CMS unveils updated website to help consumers compare quality data

Officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Friday that site includes updated data to help consumers compare hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, home care or dialysis providers.

The Hill: CMS Adds New Quality Metrics On Care 
CMS also added new metrics to its comparison tool for hospitals. Users can now compare hospitals based on how well they protect against surgical infections and how well they treat possible heart attacks (Baker, 8/5). 

Modern Healthcare: CMS Releases Quality Data, Unveils Website
The CMS released data today on hospital readmissions for heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia that found little change in performance. The agency released 30-day mortality rates and 30-day readmission rates for the three conditions and data on surgical infections and outpatient treatment for possible heart attack victims. And 10 patient satisfaction measures show "modest but meaningful" improvement, though not for all measures, the CMS said (Evans, 8/5). 

Des Moines Register: Iowa Hospital Data Near National Norms
Newly disclosed patient-care data from the federal government show that the vast majority of Iowa hospitals are within national averages in the successful treatment of heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia. Medicare's analysis of more than 4,600 hospitals nationwide found that 323, or one of every 14, had above-average death rates for heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia. In Iowa, all of the hospitals that had a statistically measurable number of heart attack cases scored within the national average for deaths and readmissions precipitated by heart attacks (Kauffman, 8/6).

Related, earlier KHN story: Medicare Prepares Rule To Penalize Hospitals With High Readmission Rates (Rau, 7/30)