Lake Norman Hospital Quality Ratings: The Best, Worst Of 2021

HUNTERSVILLE, NC — When it comes to providing outstanding overall care, at least one Lake Norman area hospital ranks among the best in the nation, according to recently updated ratings from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The federal agency recently updated its hospital quality ratings for 2021, which assesses more than 4,500 U.S. hospitals on measures such as safety, mortality and effectiveness of care.

This is the first star ratings update since January 2020.

The ratings were compiled using data from various periods; however, the most recent data used was from 2019, or before the coronavirus pandemic.

To rate hospitals, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses a star rating system, which it launched in 2016. The system assigns stars based on 48 measures in five different categories, according to the agency’s website: mortality, safety, readmission rates, patient experience, and timely and effective care.

Once reporting thresholds are met, a hospital's overall star rating is calculated using only those measures for which data is available. The average is about 37 measures. The agency then calculates a weighted average that combines a hospital’s score in each category into a single summary score.

Overall, 50 percent of hospitals received the same rating while 45 percent moved up or down by one star, according to Becker’s Hospital Review. Only 5 percent shifted up or down by two or more stars.

Read more about the methodology behind the 2021 ratings.

This year’s ratings looked at two hospitals in the Lake Norman region. Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center in Huntersville was rated among the highest in the area with four stars. Lake Norman Regional Medical Center in Mooresville received an overall rating of three stars

In Charlotte, Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center and Atrium Health University City received four-star rankings. Carolinas Medical Center received a three-star rating.

Nationwide, here’s how hospitals rated this year:

• 455 received a five-star rating
• 988 received a four-star rating
• 1,018 hospitals received a three-star rating
• 690 hospitals received a two-star rating
• 204 hospitals received a one-star rating

No information was available for 1,181 facilities, about a quarter of all U.S. hospitals.

This compares with January 2020 data, when of the 5,340 hospitals listed, 396 received five stars; 1,132 received four stars; 1,108 got three stars; 710 received two stars; and 226 got one star.

Explore the 2021 ratings on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services website.

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