Hospital Ratings: What They Mean for You
Choosing a hospital is a big decision, and quality of care matters. To make that choice easier, Medicare provides an Overall Star Rating for hospitals across the U.S.
This rating takes lots of different quality measures and combines them into a single score—ranging from 1 to 5 stars. Simply put, the more stars, the better a hospital has performed compared to others nationwide.
What Goes into the Star Rating?
The score reflects performance in five key areas of care:
- Mortality – How well hospitals prevent deaths from serious conditions like heart attacks or pneumonia.
- Safety of Care – How often patients experience complications or safety issues.
- Readmission – How often patients need to return to the hospital soon after discharge.
- Patient Experience – What patients say about their care in surveys.
- Timely and Effective Care – How quickly and effectively hospitals provide treatment.
Each hospital’s performance across these categories is combined into one overall rating.
A Few Important Notes
- Not all hospitals receive a star rating. Newer or smaller hospitals may not have enough data to qualify.
- A higher star rating shows stronger performance, but it doesn’t capture everything about a hospital’s quality.
How to Use Star Ratings
Hospital star ratings are a useful way to compare facilities locally and nationally. But they should be just one piece of your decision-making process.
When choosing a hospital, it is important to consider:
- Guidance from your doctor about where to get care.
- Infection and complication rates.
- Patient survey results on communication, comfort, and overall experience.
Think of the star rating as a helpful snapshot. It gives you a big-picture view of hospital performance, but pairing it with your doctor’s advice and other quality measures will give you the clearest picture.
You can click on the link below to search for and compare different Medicare providers—including doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, and more.
