This policy brief profiles the eighth-year participation and quality measure results for CAHs in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare public reporting database and updates previous national reports on Hospital Compare results for CAHs.  There is also a full-length briefing paper detailing these same Year 8 findings.

Although CAHs do not face the same financial incentives as hospitals paid under the Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS) to participate, the Hospital Compare initiative provides an important opportunity for CAHs to assess and improve their performance on national standards of care.

Key Findings

• The 2011 CAH national participation rate in Hospital Compare (defined as publicly reporting data on at least one inpatient process of care measure) is 80%.
• By state, CAH reporting on inpatient measures ranges from 36% to 100%. 12 states have 100% of CAHs reporting while three states have less than half of CAHs reporting. 
• 27% of CAHs reported data on at least one outpatient measure. By state, outpatient reporting ranges from 0% to 100% of CAHs. 
• About one-fifth (19%) of CAHs are not publicly reporting any quality data to Hospital Compare. 
• The percent of CAH patients receiving recommended care has increased for nearly all measures, but CAHs continue to have lower scores relative to rural and urban PPS hospitals on several measures.
• On average, CAHs have significantly higher HCAHPS scores than all other hospitals.