Pressure Delays CMS Release of Hospital Quality Ratings

Less than 24 hours before the Obama administration planned to launch its new hospital quality rating measure, its release was delayed, nodding to mounting pressure from hospital executives and Congress.

The action marks one of many concerning the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) the Obama administration has taken in the waning months of the president’s second term in office.

With the new “overall hospital quality” star rating, the administration hoped to combine the federal government’s contrasting attempts to measure hospital care in an easily embraced metric. CMS now produces more than 100 measures of hospital care, many that are perplexing and highly technical. Typically, hospitals do well on some measures and below par on others.

In April 285 members of Congress—60 senators and 225 representatives—formally asked CMS to delay releasing the star ratings. “Hospitals in our districts don’t have the necessary data to replicate or evaluate CMS’s work to ensure that the methodology is accurate or fair,” their letter stated.

CMS responded in a statement delaying the release of the star rating until July: “After the star ratings go live in their first iteration, we’ll define and improve the site as we work together and gain experience.”

Later, in a conference call with hospital leaders, CMS officials hinted they may delay the release of the ratings on the Hospital Compare website past July if they’re continuing to analyze or revise the methodology, according to participants in the call. Last year, Hospital Compare reported nearly 4 million unique page views.

Earlier this year when hospitals analyzed ratings, only 87 of some 3,600 U.S. hospitals received the highest five-star rating, according to the American Hospital Association (AHA). More than half of the hospitals fared in the three-star range. Nearly 150 received a mere star. AHA challenged the ratings process in January, affirming the program “oversimplifies the complexity of delivering high-quality care.”

Industry insiders point to lower-income patients who lack support at home as a reason why some hospitals perform poorly.

“The delay is a necessary step as hospitals and health systems work with CMS to improve the ratings for patients, and the AHA commends CMS for their decision,” said AHA President Rick Pollack.