Methodology
We use only official U.S. sources and compare facilities within their own state to keep things fair. We refresh monthly and show “Last updated: August 2025” on every page.
Sources
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) datasets for hospitals and nursing homes.
- Other U.S. federal sources where noted on report pages.
State-based comparisons
Each facility is compared to peers in the same state. We report:
- Delta vs state: how far above or below the state median a facility is (in percent).
- Rank & percentile: position among in-state peers.
- Nearby alternatives: a short list of in-state facilities with stronger results for the metric in question.
Emergency room wait (hospitals)
What it is: typical minutes from arrival to being seen by a clinician. Lower is better.
How we present it: the facility’s status (e.g., “X% faster than the STATE average”), state rank/percentile, and nearby faster options when available.
Staffing (nursing homes)
RN HPRD: registered-nurse hours per resident per day. Higher is better.
Total HPRD: nursing hours from all nursing staff (RNs, LPNs, CNAs) per resident per day. Higher is better.
RN and Total can move differently, so their rankings may not match.
Above / Average / Below badges
To keep labels simple, pages show badges that summarize position vs. the state median:
- Average: within ±5% of the state median.
- Above / Below: outside that ±5% band in the expected direction (e.g., fewer readmissions is “Above”).
- Small peer groups: when a state has fewer than 20 peers for a metric, we use simple thirds (top / middle / bottom) to avoid over-precision.
Overall scores
Where shown, overall scores are state-normalized composites intended to help readers scan quickly. They summarize the relevant metrics on the page; individual metric details should guide decisions.
Refresh & transparency
- Schedule: we aim to refresh monthly.
- Change notes: material changes are summarized in our changelog.
- Last updated: the date at the bottom of every page reflects the most recent build.