Hospital Compare Highlights Potential Challenges in Public Reporting for Hospitals.

Although the quality of health care in our nation varies widely, consumers have historically had little information about quality to help them make better choices. Hospital Compare, a central component of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospital Quality Initiative, is an unprecedented national effort to provide meaningful, relevant, and easily understood public information about hospital quality. This publication, based on our survey of hospital chief executive officers, quality improvement directors, and chief medical officers, delves into the greatest obstacles that hospital executives say they face in improving Hospital Compare and other hospital quality scores.