Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital Rated 5-Stars by CMS Hospital Compare Star Ratings

April 22, 2015

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) just released its first ever Hospital Compare Star Ratings to help consumers compare and choose among hospitals. The agencies public information website will make it easier for consumers to choose a hospital and understand the quality of care they deliver. Among the 3,553 Medicare-certified acute care hospitals based on Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey (HCAHPS) measures, only 251 (7%) hospitals were given a 5-star rating and Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital was one of them.

HCAHPS has been in use since 2006 to measure patients’ perspectives of hospital care, and includes topics like:
* How well nurses and doctors communicated with patients
* How responsive hospital staff were to patient needs
* How clean and quiet hospital environments were
* How well patients were prepared for post-hospital settings

“The patient experience Star Ratings will make it easier for consumers to use the information on the Hospital Compare website and spotlight excellence in health care quality,” said Dr. Patrick Conway, Acting Principal Deputy Administrator for CMS and Deputy Administrator for Innovation and Quality. “These star ratings also encourage hospitals and clinicians to strive to continuously improve the patient experience and quality of care delivered to all patients.”

The Hospital Compare ratings are just one example of how CMS is committed to helping consumers make informed health care decisions. The Nursing Home Compare site already uses star ratings to help consumers compare nursing homes and choose one based on quality. Physician Compare has started to include star ratings in certain situations for physician group practices, and CMS recently added star ratings to the Dialysis Facility Compare site to help to make data on dialysis centers easier to understand and use. Star ratings are planned for Home Health Compare later this year.
These ratings continue to move the health care system toward the Affordable Care Act call for transparent, easily understood and widely available public reporting. They also are a part of the Obama Administration’s Digital Government Strategy by providing content in customer-centric ways.
Consumers will now see 12 HCAHPS Star Ratings on Hospital Compare, one for each of the 11 publicly reported HCAHPS measures, plus a summary star rating that combines or rolls up all the HCAHPS Star Ratings. These star ratings will be updated each quarter.

For further information on the Star Ratings visit: https://www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare/About/HCAHPS-Star-Ratings.html