This report examines the first year participation and quality measure results for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare public reporting database for hospital quality measures. 

The Flex Monitoring Team also produces state-specific reports with more detailed results.

As of 2005, 41% of CAHs were participating in Hospital Compare to some degree, with states varying from 0% to 86% of CAHs participating. On average, participating CAHs have more inpatient admissions and inpatient days than those that did not. CAH participants were also more likely to be accredited and to be system members. For pneumonia and heart failure measures, less than 10% of CAHs were missing data, while 30% or more were missing data on acute myocardial infarction measures. Less than 4% of CAHs were reporting data for 25 or more patients on AMI measures and some of the heart failure measures. Overall, the initial Hospital Compare results suggested that CAHs as a group were performing as well or better than non-CAH rural and urban hospitals on several measures for patients with pneumonia, in addition to performing as well or better than small non-CAHs on most AMI and pneumonia measures. However, they were not performing as well as other rural or urban hospitals on most quality of care measures for patients with AMI and heart failure.