How to use the database
You can find out how hospitals in your area rate for heart care by searching the database. To get started, select a state from the drop-down menu at the top of the screen. Then, you will be prompted to select a county in that state.
If the database contains hospitals in the county you selected, it will return a list. Click the View Report link for a hospital in the list to see its ratings and find out more information about it. This information will always appear on the right side of the screen.
On the left side of the screen, you can change your search, navigate to a previous database page, use an advanced search feature or start over. The options you see will change depending on where you are in the database. Also on the left, you will find information that explains how the star ratings were calculated, where the data come from and more about the methodology used to create the database. There's also a link to glossary of terms.
If you aren't finding a hospital you are looking for, select advanced search from the hospital listing screen or a hospital report page. This will let you search for hospitals by name using the state you choose at the start of your query. It's also possible that the hospital wasn't listed in the data released in June by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Also, data for particular hospitals may be incomplete.
In addition to exploring ratings for hospitals in your immediate vicinity, consider these searches:
- Compare ratings for hospitals close to family members, such as elderly relatives, who live in other parts of the country.
- Compare ratings for rural and city hospitals if you live in a rural area but also have access to health care in a larger metropolitan area, especially for cases of heart failure, which might require longer-term care.
This database works best with Internet Explorer 6 for Windows, Mozilla Firefox for Windows and Mac, Netscape 7 or higher for Windows and Mac, Opera for Windows and Mac, and Safari for Mac. If the drop-down menus aren't working correctly, please make sure JavaScript support is turned on.
Send e-mail to report a problem with the database.