Hospital Public Reporting

The consumer website called Hospital Compare, www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov, was unveiled on April 1, 2005. This resource provides instant, objective, easy-to-use and free information about the quality of hospital care in Colorado and nationwide. Under the Hospital Quality Initiative, hospitals submit quality of care information so that consumers can compare care and make better-informed decisions. Hospital Compare was created by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Hospital Quality Alliance, a public-private collaboration.
For more information regarding measures reported on Hospital Compare visit:

Hospital Compare Measures

 Hospital Quality Alliance: Improving Care through Information

The Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) is a public-private collaboration that represents diverse stakeholders including hospitals, health professionals, government agencies, quality experts, purchasers, and consumer groups. The HQA is committed to making meaningful, relevant, and easily understood information about hospital performance accessible to the public and to informing and encouraging efforts to improve quality. For more information, please access the following link:

Information regarding HQA on QualiltyNet

Hospital Patient Perspective on Care Survey (HCAHPS)

The intent of the HCAHPS initiative is to provide a standardized survey instrument and data collection methodology for measuring patients' perspectives on hospital care. While many hospitals currently collect information on patients' satisfaction with care, there is no national standard for collecting or publicly reporting this information that would enable valid comparisons to be made across all hospitals. In order to make "apples to apples" comparisons to support consumer choice, it is necessary to introduce a standard measurement approach. HCAHPS can be viewed as a core set of questions that can be combined with a broader, customized set of hospital-specific items. HCAHPS is meant to complement the data hospitals currently collect to support improvements in internal customer services and quality related activities.

To learn more about HCAHPS, please visit the following websites:

For information and technical assistance, contact the Arizona QIO: hcahps@azqio.sdps.org or 1-888-884-4007.

Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR)

The Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program (Formerly known as RHQDAPU)
program was initially developed as a result of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003. Section 5001(a) of Pub. 109-171 of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 set out new requirements for the RHQDAPU program, which build on the ongoing voluntary Hospital Quality Initiative.

The Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program (Formerly known as RHQDAPU)
is intended to equip consumers with quality of care information to make more informed decisions about their healthcare. It is also intended to encourage hospitals and clinicians to improve the quality of inpatient care provided to all patients. The hospital quality of care information gathered through the program is available to consumers on the Hospital Compare website.

The Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program (Formerly known as RHQDAPU)
program requires "sub-section (d)" hospitals to submit data for specific quality measures for health conditions common among people with Medicare, and which typically result in hospitalization.

Hospitals that do not participate in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program (Formerly known as RHQDAPU) will receive a reduction of 2.0 percent in their Medicare Annual Payment Update for fiscal year 2012. To avoid the reduction in their Annual Payment Update (APU), hospitals must meet specific requirements outlined in the participation steps (Reference Checklist) for FY 2011 (PDF-104 KB).

See the FY 2012 Reporting Quarters (PDF-53.2 KB) for a list of the various hospital data required for FY 2012 APU determination.

Visit QualityNet for additional RHQDAPU Information (link opens a new window).

Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR)

Background and Purpose

The Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR) Program is a quality data reporting program implemented by the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for outpatient hospital services. Under this program, hospitals report data using standardized measures of care to receive the full annual update to their Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) payment rate, effective for payments beginning in calendar year (CY) 2009. The Hospital OQR Program is modeled on the current quality data reporting program for inpatient services, the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program.

Further information on the Outpatient Quality Reporting Program can be found at QualityNet Outpatient Reporting Program and in the attached document labeled "New Hospital Packet Outpatient Quality Reporting."

New Hospital Packet Outpatient Quality Reporting (MS Word)

Contact Information

For information on Hospital Public Reporting, contact Marcy Cameron, Quality Reporting Specialist at mcameron@coqio.sdps.org.

Colorado Foundation for Medical Care (CFMC), the Medicare quality improvement organization for Colorado, prepared this material under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents do not necessarily reflect CMS Policy.