U.S. News & World Report publishes CMS hospital mortality data
Earlier this week, U.S. News & World Report published a report comparing CMS data on heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia mortality rates at thousands of U.S. hospitals.
According to U.S. News, this report marks the first time the government has made hospital death rates widely available to the public. Last year, CMS released a broad comparison of death rates for heart attacks and heart failure, noting how hospitals compared with the national average, but did not release the death rates themselves. This year the agency decided to disclose those rates to consumers.
U.S. News reports that advocates for healthcare improvement are praising the CMS decision to release the mortality data as an important step towards change.
