From: Modern Healthcare
By Sabriya Rice
Kidney-care providers are still battling methods used by the CMS to help dialysis patients evaluate quality at more than 5,500 U.S. treatment centers. The ratings are difficult to understand and are not consistent with other online public-rating systems, a technical expert panel said in a report released Tuesday.
The analysis comes as the providers await the release this month of the newest round of one- to five-star quality ratings, which are meant to summarize how well the facilities did on measures such as reducing hospitalizations, blood transfusion and deaths, among other concerns. In January, the CMS began publicly posting the stars on its Dialysis Facility Compare amid industry protests.