Medicare may adopt a star system for its Hospital Compare website to make the ratings more consumer-friendly, according to a report from Kaiser Health News.
Hospital Compare publishes a range of metrics on hospitals, including rates for mortality, infection, CT scan utilization and a survey score for patient experience. In its recent proposed rules, CMS called for ideas on how to better display information on the website to make it more user-friendly. The agency noted one option of "aggregating measures in a graphical display, such as star ratings."
The option isn't sitting well with some, including the Association of American Medical Colleges, which said a star system "may make inappropriate distinctions for hospitals whose performance is not statistically different" and could also exaggerate minor performance differences. Other hospital leaders have said a graphic display would need to be based on more sophisticated data than what is currently available.
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