Quality Measures

Calculating Quality Measures

Except for Patient Survey results, quality data on CompareMaine are displayed using a three-bar icon to better visualize when performance is below, at, or above the state average. More bars mean better performance, with three bars indicating the best. Fewer bars mean worse performance on the selected measures.

1 out of 3
2 out of 3
3 out of 3
worse better

The performance of hospitals on several of the quality measures is compared to the state confidence intervals and state and national averages, when available. The performance rating for a hospital may differ depending on which comparison is being made.

If the hospital’s confidence interval (CI) overlaps with the state confidence interval, then the facility is considered "average," and receives a rating of two bars on CompareMaine. If the facility's interval is below the state interval, then the facility is performing "above average" and receives a rating of three bars. If the facility's interval is above the state interval, then the facility is performing "below average" and receives a rating of one bar.

For Patient Survey results, CompareMaine reports on a five-bar scale, with each bar representative of a star in the CMS Five Star Summary Star Rating.

1 out of 5
2 out of 5
3 out of 5
4 out of 5
5 out of 5
worse better

For more information, download the quality data reported on CompareMaine.

Serious Complications and Healthcare-Associated Infections

For serious complications and Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), the ratings for both the state and national averages are calculated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS compares each hospital’s performance to the national average, using confidence intervals. For serious complications, the Maine Health Data Organization (MHDO) calculates the statewide average and confidence interval since CMS does not provide the statewide information.

Falls with Injury and Pressure Ulcers

Falls with Injury and Pressure Ulcers performance is based on hospital-reported data submitted to MHDO. MHDO calculates confidence intervals for each hospital, as well as the state, and compares the hospital rates to the statewide confidence interval.

Unplanned Hospital-Wide Readmissions

The rates for Unplanned Hospital-Wide Readmissions are based on hospital rates compared to the CMS national average.

Patient Experience

For HCAHPS, CompareMaine reports the CMS Summary Star Rating on a five-bar scale, with one bar for each star. For example, a facility that received five stars would have a rating of five bars. CMS calculates the Summary Star rating by combining the average scores for nine individual HCAHPS topic composite star-ratings. CMS does not calculate a national or state average number of stars; consequently, MHDO chose not to report these comparisons.

To be consistent with other measures on the site, MHDO uses bars rather than stars to represent the patient experience rating on CompareMaine. Visit HCAHPS for more information on the Summary Star rating.