Brooklyn Hospitals Receive One And Two Star Ratings From Centers For Medicare And Medicaid

Update [10/28/15]: A previous version of this article misstated the Summary Star Ratings of several local hospitals, based on information from Healthcare Finance News. Since its posting, the ratings on that site have been adjusted — and we have adjusted our article to reflect the correct ratings.

On a scale of one to five stars, most of Brooklyn’s 13 hospitals came in at one or two stars, according to the latest Hospital Compare results for 2014 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In our area, Kings County Hospital only received one star and SUNY Downstate University Hospital received two stars.

The data came from patient surveys issued — via the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems — throughout 2014 asking them, post-treatment, to rate the quality of their experience. However, with hundreds or even thousands of surveys handed out, response rates averaged in the teens for all hospitals.

As Healthcare Finance News noted, “poor scores can result lower reimbursement rates from Medicare under the government’s value-based purchasing program.”

Other one-starred hospitals included Brooklyn Hospital, Woodhull Medical Center, Wyckoff Medical Center, Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, and Maimonides Medical Center.

Two-starred hospitals were New York Methodist Hospital, Lutheran Medical Center (the hospital had not yet been merged with NYU, so it wasn’t yet known as NYU-Lutheran), Coney Island Hospital, Interfaith Medical Center, and Woodhull Medical Center.

New York Community Hospital received three stars.

For comparison, most hospitals in Manhattan ranked 3 to 5 stars. Overall, hospital star ratings have see-sawed since CMS data began being released earlier this year in April and July, although the most recent data is “in line with a national downward trend.”

How would you describe your quality of care received at local hospitals?