What the star ratings mean
Medical Practices
The medical practice summary quality rating is scored by combining a set of measure scores into a single star rating. Each medical practice’s performance is graded between one and three stars – more stars are better. This star rating shows how a primary care practice’s quality compares to all primary care practices statewide. Separate star ratings are reported for patients with commercial health insurance versus patients with Medicaid coverage.
A three-star medical practice means the practice had better quality results compared to the average results statewide. A two-star practice means the practice had average, or typical, quality results compared to all practices. A one-star medical practice means the practice had lower quality results compared to the average results statewide.
No star rating is calculated for medical practices with fewer than four reportable quality measures. The number of quality measures differs by medical practice as the number of patients served by practices differs a lot. A practice is not scored on a quality measure if the practice had too few patients, in the WA-APCD data, with the relevant health problem or need. The quality results are based on patients who got care during the current year that data is available.
The hospital summary quality rating is scored by the federal government by summarizing a large number of measures into a single star rating. These star ratings and all of the hospital quality measures can be found on the Hospital Compare website which is sponsored by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS grades each hospital’s performance between one and five stars – this star rating shows how a hospital’s quality compares to all hospitals nationwide.
The number of quality measures differs by hospital; on average, 39 measures are used to calculate a hospital’s summary rating. These measures concern a number of quality topics like death rates, patient safety, patient experiences of care, and getting the right care at the right time. Certain measures are based on patients across all insurance programs – Medicare, commercial, Medicaid; other measures include care and experiences for Medicare patients only. The quality results mainly are based on patients who got care during the current year that data is available.
No summary quality star ratings are available for the ambulatory surgery centers or other outpatient centers reported on this site.