The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is debuting a new website that provides detailed information on payments to hospitals and volume for specific DRGs under the Medicare prospective payment system. Payments for the top 25 Medicare DRGs are arrayed by state and by individual hospitals within states.
Hospitals can be compared on the basis of cost and volume using graphs or charts. Comparisons are available for hospitals within states and nationwide. Dubbed the CMS Dashboard, the beta version of the site includes information on discharges from January 2006 to December 2009. Data from Medicare Advantage plans are not included in calculations.
In a preview video entitled The Road to Data Democracy, officials from the Obama Administration describe the site as a major step in the effort to develop a more transparent healthcare system. The site will be updated on a monthly basis. It’s available at www.cms.gov/dashboard.