News: CMS will not update overall star ratings in October

CMS, after repeated urging from the American Hospital Association (AHA), announced last week that they will not be updating the overall hospital quality ratings on Hospital Compare this October, AHA News Now reported.

“CMS decided not to proceed with the October update to continue its examination of potential changes to the Star Rating methodology based on public feedback,” CMS said.

This isn’t the first time CMS has delayed the star rating update release, though. CMS originally postponed the scheduled July release to October to evaluate the methodology and gather stakeholder feedback, according to Modern Healthcare.  

The overall star ratings on the CMS Hospital Compare site has been repeatedly criticized by the AHA and others over the years along with every other public reporting website. The many criticisms levied against public reporting sites indicate that CMS may have a long road ahead of them as they seek to examine and revise their reporting methodology.

The agency has not announced a new release date for the updated star ratings at this time.

Editor’s note: To read the AHA’s coverage of CMS’ delay, click here. To read about the AHA’s comments to CMS, click here. To read Modern Healthcare’s coverage of CMS’ delay, click here. To read an article about publically reported data and its importance for CDI programs, click here.