Medicare hospital penalties
Which hospitals Medicare is penalizing for infections and patient-safety problems, and which have more readmissions than expected, in every state.
Safety penalty (HAC)71624% of 2,986 hospitals · 1% payment cut
Excess readmissions2,34183% above expected on 1+ condition
Highest HAC shareHawaii64% of its hospitals
Penalties by state
Click a column to sort; select a state for every hospital.
| State | HAC penalized | Share | Excess readmissions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 28 of 73 | 38% | 57 of 64 (89%) |
| Alaska | 4 of 8 | 50% | 6 of 8 (75%) |
| Arizona | 12 of 64 | 19% | 51 of 57 (89%) |
| Arkansas | 14 of 41 | 34% | 35 of 38 (92%) |
| California | 76 of 276 | 28% | 225 of 252 (89%) |
| Colorado | 7 of 51 | 14% | 25 of 45 (56%) |
| Connecticut | 3 of 26 | 12% | 23 of 25 (92%) |
| Delaware | 0 of 6 | 0% | 4 of 6 (67%) |
| Florida | 18 of 167 | 11% | 152 of 162 (94%) |
| Georgia | 27 of 94 | 29% | 74 of 88 (84%) |
| Hawaii | 7 of 11 | 64% | 10 of 11 (91%) |
| Idaho | 2 of 16 | 13% | 6 of 14 (43%) |
| Illinois | 31 of 114 | 27% | 101 of 109 (93%) |
| Indiana | 10 of 82 | 12% | 65 of 76 (86%) |
| Iowa | 16 of 30 | 53% | 20 of 29 (69%) |
| Kansas | 10 of 44 | 23% | 26 of 42 (62%) |
| Kentucky | 21 of 59 | 36% | 53 of 59 (90%) |
| Louisiana | 25 of 82 | 30% | 54 of 67 (81%) |
| Maine | 4 of 13 | 31% | 7 of 13 (54%) |
| Maryland | 0 of 0 | 0% | 37 of 41 (90%) |
| Massachusetts | 20 of 55 | 36% | 47 of 52 (90%) |
| Michigan | 30 of 90 | 33% | 71 of 83 (86%) |
| Minnesota | 10 of 45 | 22% | 30 of 43 (70%) |
| Mississippi | 18 of 59 | 31% | 45 of 50 (90%) |
| Missouri | 9 of 62 | 15% | 54 of 62 (87%) |
| Montana | 4 of 11 | 36% | 7 of 10 (70%) |
| Nebraska | 6 of 25 | 24% | 15 of 22 (68%) |
| Nevada | 4 of 22 | 18% | 18 of 19 (95%) |
| New Hampshire | 5 of 13 | 38% | 12 of 13 (92%) |
| New Jersey | 5 of 61 | 8% | 57 of 61 (93%) |
| New Mexico | 11 of 26 | 42% | 16 of 23 (70%) |
| New York | 45 of 128 | 35% | 106 of 124 (85%) |
| North Carolina | 20 of 80 | 25% | 64 of 77 (83%) |
| North Dakota | 1 of 7 | 14% | 6 of 7 (86%) |
| Ohio | 31 of 118 | 26% | 95 of 111 (86%) |
| Oklahoma | 15 of 76 | 20% | 46 of 64 (72%) |
| Oregon | 13 of 32 | 41% | 17 of 32 (53%) |
| Pennsylvania | 36 of 131 | 27% | 110 of 124 (89%) |
| Rhode Island | 2 of 10 | 20% | 6 of 9 (67%) |
| South Carolina | 12 of 51 | 24% | 44 of 51 (86%) |
| South Dakota | 3 of 17 | 18% | 12 of 15 (80%) |
| Tennessee | 15 of 78 | 19% | 59 of 71 (83%) |
| Texas | 32 of 280 | 11% | 192 of 241 (80%) |
| Utah | 1 of 32 | 3% | 16 of 29 (55%) |
| Vermont | 4 of 6 | 67% | 5 of 6 (83%) |
| Virginia | 5 of 71 | 7% | 58 of 69 (84%) |
| Washington | 12 of 46 | 26% | 32 of 45 (71%) |
| West Virginia | 12 of 25 | 48% | 20 of 22 (91%) |
| Wisconsin | 16 of 64 | 25% | 43 of 63 (68%) |
| Wyoming | 4 of 8 | 50% | 7 of 8 (88%) |
Above expected on every readmission condition
Hospitals rated on five or more conditions whose excess readmission ratio was above 1.00 on all of them.
| Hospital | Conditions | Highest ratio | HAC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holy Family Hospital, a Caritas Family HospitalMethuen, MA | 5 of 5 | 1.566 Hip or knee replacement | No |
| St Mary's HospitalAthens, GA | 5 of 5 | 1.510 Hip or knee replacement | Penalized |
| Good Samaritan Medical CenterWest Palm Beach, FL | 5 of 5 | 1.491 Hip or knee replacement | No |
| Winchester HospitalWinchester, MA | 5 of 5 | 1.479 Hip or knee replacement | No |
| Oroville HospitalOroville, CA | 5 of 5 | 1.426 Pneumonia | Penalized |
| Bay Regional Medical CenterBay City, MI | 6 of 6 | 1.388 Heart bypass surgery | No |
| University Medical Center at PrincetonPrinceton, NJ | 5 of 5 | 1.384 Hip or knee replacement | No |
| Tufts Medical CenterBoston, MA | 6 of 6 | 1.378 Hip or knee replacement | Penalized |
| Melrosewakefield HealthcareMelrose, MA | 5 of 5 | 1.375 Hip or knee replacement | No |
| St Mary Mercy HospitalLivonia, MI | 5 of 5 | 1.371 Hip or knee replacement | Penalized |
| HCA Florida Trinity HospitalNew Port Richey, FL | 5 of 5 | 1.363 Hip or knee replacement | No |
| St Lucie Medical CenterPort St Lucie, FL | 5 of 5 | 1.325 Hip or knee replacement | No |
| Cape Cod HospitalHyannis, MA | 6 of 6 | 1.293 Hip or knee replacement | No |
| Park Nicollet Methodist HospitalSaint Louis Park, MN | 6 of 6 | 1.250 Hip or knee replacement | No |
| Doctors Medical CenterModesto, CA | 5 of 5 | 1.247 Heart bypass surgery | No |
| Henry Ford Health Warren HospitalWarren, MI | 5 of 5 | 1.236 Hip or knee replacement | No |
| Alliancehealth DurantDurant, OK | 5 of 5 | 1.235 Pneumonia | No |
| McLaren Regional Medical CenterFlint, MI | 6 of 6 | 1.232 Hip or knee replacement | No |
| Jefferson Stratford HospitalCherry Hill, NJ | 5 of 5 | 1.228 Pneumonia | No |
| Adventhealth OrlandoOrlando, FL | 6 of 6 | 1.223 Heart bypass surgery | No |
How the penalties work
Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program. Each year Medicare scores general hospitals on infections caught in the hospital (such as bloodstream and urinary catheter infections, C. diff and MRSA) and on patient-safety problems. The quarter of hospitals with the worst scores have all their Medicare inpatient payments cut by 1% for the fiscal year.
Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP). Medicare compares each hospital's readmissions for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, COPD, heart bypass surgery and hip or knee replacement with what it expects for similar patients. A ratio above 1.00 means more readmissions than expected. Whether payments are reduced, and by how much (up to 3%), depends on how the hospital's ratios compare with the median for similar hospitals, so a ratio above 1.00 doesn't by itself mean a penalty.
Critical access, children's, cancer, psychiatric and some other hospitals are not part of these programs.
Source: CMS Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program and Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program files (Provider Data Catalog). About the data.