In July 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services introduced the Overall Hospital Star Rating system with the goal of summarizing quality measure data in a way that is easy for patients and consumers to understand.

Since its launch, some stakeholder groups have voiced support for the easily understandable format of the five star ratings, while others have questioned the methodology employed by the system and confidence in the validity of the Star Ratings performance results.

Hospital Star Rating Summit

To address these concerns, NQF hosted the Hospital Quality Star Rating Summit at its headquarters in Washington, DC – convening a diverse panel of more than 20 experts from across the healthcare community with the common goal of ensuring the Star Ratings system is accurate and actionable as a meaningful vehicle to help patients confidently engage in important care decisions.

This NQF-funded Summit explored the opportunities and challenges that exist within the Hospital Star Rating system, providing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services a unique opportunity to hear all voices collaborate on the key issues.

View the original NQF Star Rating Summit Fact Sheet (PDF)

View the original NQF Star Rating Summit Issue Brief  (PDF)

Star Rating Summit Reconvening

In September 2020, NQF virtually reconvened the multistakeholder panel of experts from the Hospital Quality Star Rating Summit held in August 2019 to discuss and provide feedback on several proposed changes to the CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings methodology. A summary of the panel’s deliberations is available below.

View the NQF Star Rating Summit Reconvening Issue Brief (PDF)