About PlainHospital
Our Mission
PlainHospital exists because patients and families deserve easy access to hospital quality data before they need it, not scrambled research during a health crisis. We believe that government quality data collected at public expense should be presented in a form that helps real people make informed healthcare decisions.
CMS publishes comprehensive hospital quality data, star ratings, patient experience surveys, safety measures, infection rates, and more, for over 5,400 Medicare-certified hospitals. But this data is scattered across government downloads and technical reports. PlainHospital organizes it into searchable hospital profiles where you can compare quality measures side by side.
We do not recommend hospitals, rank them by subjective criteria, or accept advertising from healthcare providers. The data speaks for itself. Our role is to make it accessible and legible.
Our Data Sources
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Hospital quality data comes from the CMS Hospital Compare program, which collects and publishes quality measures for Medicare-certified hospitals across the United States. This includes overall star ratings (1-5 stars), HCAHPS patient experience survey results, healthcare-associated infection rates, readmission and mortality rates, timely and effective care measures, maternal health indicators, and Medicare spending per beneficiary.
CMS data is the most widely used source for hospital quality comparison. The star rating methodology combines multiple quality dimensions using a statistical model developed by CMS with input from technical expert panels and public comment. Patient experience data comes from the standardized HCAHPS survey administered to random samples of discharged patients. Infection and safety data comes from mandatory hospital reporting to the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network.
FDA MAUDE Database
Medical device safety data comes from the FDA Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) database via the openFDA API. MAUDE collects adverse event reports submitted by device manufacturers (required by law), healthcare facilities, and voluntary submissions from patients and providers. Our device safety pages show report counts, event types, patient outcomes, and manufacturer data for thousands of medical devices.
How We Process the Data
We download CMS Hospital Compare data files and FDA MAUDE exports, then process them through the following steps:
- Hospital profiles: Each hospital's quality measures, star rating, patient experience scores, and infection rates are organized into a searchable profile with state-level and national comparison context.
- Geographic linking: Hospitals are linked to states, cities, and VA facility classifications, enabling geographic searches and comparisons.
- Device aggregation: MAUDE adverse event reports are aggregated by device category, with breakdowns by event type, patient outcome, product problem, manufacturer, and year to create comprehensive device safety profiles.
- Rankings: Hospital rankings by star rating, patient experience, maternal care designation, and other dimensions are computed from the underlying CMS data.
Star ratings are displayed exactly as CMS publishes them, we do not modify, reweight, or recalculate them. Patient experience percentages are the official HCAHPS results. Infection rates are standardized infection ratios (SIRs) compared to national baselines. All data is presented with clear source attribution.
Data Currency
PlainHospital displays data from the most recent CMS Hospital Compare release. CMS updates hospital quality data on a rolling basis, typically refreshing star ratings and quality measures quarterly or semi-annually. Our database is updated within 30 days of each new CMS data release.
FDA MAUDE device safety data is refreshed from the openFDA API periodically. Both datasets have inherent lag: CMS quality measures typically reflect data from 1-3 years prior to publication, and MAUDE reports may take weeks to months to appear after the event. This is a feature of all government health data and is the same lag that healthcare researchers and regulators work with.
Editorial Independence
Content on PlainHospital is compiled by our editorial team. Raw data from CMS, HHS, CDC, FDA, and HRSA is transformed into readable profiles by our continuous editorial pipeline, validated against the source before publication. The PlainHospital editorial team, is responsible for editorial standards, methodology, and corrections.
We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from providers, hospitals, manufacturers, or any healthcare entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense, advertisers do not influence which entities we cover or how we present data, and they do not receive preferential placement.
Limitations and Disclaimers
PlainHospital is an informational resource. Hospital and healthcare decisions should involve direct consultation with qualified healthcare providers. Every patient's situation is unique, and aggregate quality measures cannot capture individual clinical circumstances.
- Coverage: Only Medicare-certified facilities are included, most but not all U.S. hospitals. Some hospitals lack star ratings due to insufficient data volume.
- Measure timing: Quality measures reflect data from prior years and may not capture recent improvements or declines in hospital performance.
- Teaching hospital adjustment: CMS star ratings include statistical adjustments for patient mix, but large academic medical centers often score lower on patient experience despite excellent clinical outcomes due to structural factors.
- Device reports are not safety ratings: MAUDE adverse event counts reflect reporting volume, not device safety. Widely used devices generate more reports even if their failure rate is low.
- Independence: PlainHospital is not affiliated with CMS, FDA, or any government agency or healthcare provider.
This site is for informational purposes only and does not provide medical advice. The data comes from government sources and is not a substitute for professional medical consultation. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for medical decisions.
Contact
Questions, data corrections, or feedback? Email us at hello@plainhospital.com.
We welcome:
- Questions about data sources or methodology
- Reports of apparent data errors or anomalies
- Suggestions for additional data or features
- Media and research inquiries
PlainHospital is a data intelligence company that builds free, public-interest data portals from authoritative government datasets.