facebook tracking Massachusetts hospital Medicare penalties: 20 penalized for patient safety

Massachusetts hospital Medicare penalties

Which Massachusetts hospitals Medicare is penalizing for infections and patient-safety problems in fiscal year 2026, and which had more readmissions than expected.

Safety penalty (HAC)20 of 5536% · U.S. 24%
Excess readmissions47 of 52Above expected on 1+ condition
In the programs55Massachusetts hospitals
Fiscal year2026Penalty year

Every Massachusetts hospital in the programs

Penalized hospitals first. Click a column to sort.

Hospital HAC penalty Readmissions above expected VBP score
Tufts Medical CenterBoston 1% cut 6 of 6Highest: Hip or knee replacement 1.38 33.4
Baystate Medical CenterSpringfield 1% cut 5 of 6Highest: Heart bypass surgery 1.25 12.8
Healthalliance Hospitals, INCLeominster 1% cut 4 of 4Highest: Pneumonia 1.10 25.1
Lowell General HospitalLowell 1% cut 4 of 5Highest: Heart attack 1.12 17.3
Marlborough HospitalMarlborough 1% cut 4 of 4Highest: Pneumonia 1.14 20.8
South Shore HospitalSouth Weymouth 1% cut 4 of 5Highest: Heart attack 1.19 24.6
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical CenterBoston 1% cut 3 of 6Highest: Heart attack 1.12 32.7
Beverly Hospital CorporationBeverly 1% cut 3 of 5Highest: COPD 1.06 25.6
Cooley Dickinson Hospital Inc,TheNorthampton 1% cut 3 of 4Highest: Heart failure 1.14 29.5
Falmouth HospitalFalmouth 1% cut 3 of 5Highest: Pneumonia 1.06 35.8
Heywood HospitalGardner 1% cut 3 of 4Highest: COPD 1.07 11.1
Metrowest Medical CenterFramingham 1% cut 3 of 4Highest: Pneumonia 1.14 18.8
Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital - NeedhamNeedham 1% cut 2 of 4Highest: Pneumonia 1.10 40.6
Brockton HospitalBrockton 1% cut 2 of 5Highest: COPD 1.08 16.8
Milton HospitalMilton 1% cut 2 of 4Highest: COPD 1.07 41.8
Noble HospitalWestfield 1% cut 2 of 3Highest: Heart failure 1.06 17.1
Cambridge Health AllianceCambridge 1% cut 0 of 4 17
Faulkner HospitalBoston 1% cut 0 of 4 56.3
Massachusetts Eye and Ear InfirmaryBoston 1% cut – –
New England Baptist HospitalBoston 1% cut 0 of 1 –
Cape Cod HospitalHyannis No 6 of 6Highest: Hip or knee replacement 1.29 25.2
Holy Family Hospital, a Caritas Family HospitalMethuen No 5 of 5Highest: Hip or knee replacement 1.57 19
Lahey Clinic HospitalBurlington No 5 of 6Highest: Hip or knee replacement 1.19 29.3
Melrosewakefield HealthcareMelrose No 5 of 5Highest: Hip or knee replacement 1.38 33.7
St Vincent HospitalWorcester No 5 of 6Highest: Hip or knee replacement 1.14 26.3
Winchester HospitalWinchester No 5 of 5Highest: Hip or knee replacement 1.48 42.9
Anna Jaques HospitalNewburyport No 4 of 4Highest: COPD 1.15 25.9
Boston Medical Center-BrightonBrighton No 4 of 6Highest: Heart attack 1.26 33.2
Good Samaritan Medical Center, a Caritas Family HoBrockton No 4 of 5Highest: Heart failure 1.12 26.5
Holyoke Medical CenterHolyoke No 4 of 4Highest: Pneumonia 1.07 43.1
Milford Regional Medical CenterMilford No 4 of 5Highest: Heart failure 1.21 40.2
Morton Hospital & Medical CenterTaunton No 4 of 5Highest: Hip or knee replacement 1.56 22.7
Sturdy Memorial HospitalAttleboro No 4 of 4Highest: Hip or knee replacement 1.29 28.8
Umass Memorial Medical Center INCWorcester No 4 of 6Highest: Heart bypass surgery 1.09 20.7
Harrington Memorial HospitalSouthbridge No 3 of 3Highest: Pneumonia 1.11 30.4
Mercy Medical CenterSpringfield No 3 of 4Highest: COPD 1.12 26.6
Newton-Wellesley HospitalNewton Lower Falls No 3 of 5Highest: Hip or knee replacement 1.12 45.7
Saint Anne's Hospital, a Caritas Family HospitalFall River No 3 of 5Highest: Heart attack 1.05 40.7
Wing Memorial Hospital and Medical CenterPalmer No 3 of 3Highest: COPD 1.06 34.8
Baystate Franklin Medical CenterGreenfield No 2 of 3Highest: COPD 1.05 29.8
Brigham and Women's HosptialBoston No 2 of 6Highest: Heart attack 1.22 42.7
Emerson HospitalConcord No 2 of 4Highest: COPD 1.09 38.7
Lawrence General HospitalLawrence No 2 of 5Highest: Heart attack 1.09 15.8
Nantucket Cottage HospitalNantucket No 2 of 2Highest: Heart failure 1.05 –
Nashoba Valley Medical CenterAyer No 2 of 4Highest: Pneumonia 1.01 –
Union HospitalLynn No 2 of 5Highest: Pneumonia 1.09 49.3
Berkshire Medical Center INCPittsfield No 1 of 5Highest: Heart failure 1.03 30.4
Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital PlymouthPlymouth No 1 of 5Highest: Heart attack 1.00 29.6
Boston Medical Center CorporationBoston No 1 of 6Highest: COPD 1.08 29.6
Carney HospitalDorchester No 1 of 2Highest: Pneumonia 1.01 –
Mount Auburn HospitalCambridge No 1 of 6Highest: Pneumonia 1.10 38.8
Adcare Hospital of Worcester INCWorcester No – –
Massachusetts General HospitalBoston No 0 of 6 46.8
Norwood Hospital, a Caritas Family HospitalNorwood No – –
Southcoast Hospital Group, INCFall River No 0 of 6 18.9
All states Massachusetts infections and safety Massachusetts star ratings
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Questions

Which Massachusetts hospitals does Medicare penalize for patient safety?

20 of 55 Massachusetts hospitals in the program (36%, vs 24% nationally) have their Medicare payments cut 1% in fiscal year 2026: Tufts Medical Center, Baystate Medical Center, Healthalliance Hospitals, INC, Lowell General Hospital, Marlborough Hospital, South Shore Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Beverly Hospital Corporation, Cooley Dickinson Hospital Inc,The, Falmouth Hospital, Heywood Hospital, Metrowest Medical Center and 8 more.

What does a readmission ratio above 1.00 mean?

It means the hospital's Medicare patients were readmitted within 30 days more often than CMS expected for similar patients. In Massachusetts, 47 of 52 rated hospitals were above 1.00 on at least one condition.

HAC: the quarter of hospitals with the worst hospital-acquired condition scores get a 1% cut to Medicare inpatient payments. Readmissions: a ratio above 1.00 means more readmissions than expected; whether payments are cut depends on how the hospital compares with similar hospitals, so a ratio above 1.00 alone isn't a penalty. VBP: Value-Based Purchasing total performance score out of 100. How the penalties work.