News: CMS releases new Compare sites

The latest rollout of healthcare facility assessments expands the government’s Compare websites to  Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) and Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs), according to a December 14, CMS Blog post.

Most widely known for its Hospital and Physician Compare component sites, the new programs will begin with targeted measures such as new or worsening pressure ulcers and all-cause, unplanned readmissions.

Additionally, CMS expects to update its Hospital Compare site to include overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings and refresh data for Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems (HCAHPS), new oncology care measures, and readmission after coronary artery bypass graft surgery measures.

CMS also plans to add new quality data and a “significantly larger and more diverse set of quality information” to its Physician Compare site. The agency also expects to release a new, “user-focused” Physician Compare site, including optimization for mobile use.

CDI professionals can use this data to demonstrate how documentation affects a number of public, score-card style healthcare publications. For example, The Leapfrog Group released its list of top hospitals in a press release on December 6. It named 56 facilities as top general hospitals, nine top children’s hospitals, and 29 top teaching facilities.

Illustrating how one facility, or physician, compares to another amongst these systems may help illuminate the value of documentation improvement efforts.