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Healthgrades: Clinical outcomes key for hospital rankings

Data from Healthgrades' outpatient hospital rankings indicate a steep disparity in patient outcomes between high- and low-performing hospitals.

Sara Heath
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Published: 22 Oct 2024

More than 200,000 lives could have been saved had every hospital performed like a five-star hospital, according to data gleaned from the Healthgrades outpatient hospital rankings data, indicating just how key clinical quality is for patient safety and a good patient experience.

The data, released as part of the Healthgrades outpatient and specialty care awards, also indicates a stark gap between top performers and one-star-rated hospitals, the company said.

Healthgrades calculates its rankings using Medicare inpatient data from the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) file. For this most recent set of rankings, the company used data regarding patient outcomes for 33 conditions and procedures from 2020 through 2022.

Healthgrades uses that data to rank hospitals nationally and statewide and assign them a five-star rating. According to Healthgrades, these scores are designed to help healthcare consumers make decisions about where to access care.

But in addition to seeing how individual hospitals stack up, the data can also give broad insights into the state of patient safety, clinical quality and patient experience nationwide.

In particular, this year's data showed a serious disparity between high- and low-performing hospitals, Healthgrades said.

For example, had every hospital performed like a five-star hospital, the country might have seen 224,958 lives saved, Healthgrades estimated. Additionally, 141,692 complications could have been avoided if all hospitals performed at a top level.

"Our specialty awards highlight top-performing hospitals across medical specialties, empowering consumers to find high quality care for their unique needs," Brad Bowman, M.D., chief medical officer and head of data science at Healthgrades, said in a press release. "Doing your research ahead of time and understanding where you can find high quality care can positively impact your healthcare journey and overall experience."

Orthopedic procedures shift to outpatient settings

The 2025 Outpatient Awards from Healthgrades signaled a continuation of more orthopedic surgeries performed on an outpatient basis. This trend was prominent prior to 2020, but accelerated likely as a result of the pandemic, the report authors said.

Specifically, the number of outpatient knee replacements grew 87% between 2020 and 2023, Healthgrades reported. Conversely, inpatient knee replacements declined by 57%.

The same goes for hip replacements. Between 2020 and 2023, outpatient hip replacements grew 154%, while inpatient hip replacements went down by over 60%.

These numbers indicate a shift to more home-based recovery and a growing adoption of the remote tools necessary to make that happen. Multiple surveys have shown that patients prefer to recover at home, rather than in the hospital, and this data indicates hospitals and health systems are increasing those capabilities.

Sara Heath has covered news related to patient engagement and health equity since 2015.

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