Hospital Compare drives hospital performance improvement initiatives.

On April 1, 2005, the impetus for public reporting of comparative hospital data was ratcheted up a giant notch by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Hospital Quality Alliance. Even before reaching the public's radar screen, Hospital Compare--a website that includes quality measures on how often large, acute-care and smaller, critical care hospitals provide recommended treatments that adults should receive for certain conditions--is having a major impact on hospital performance initiatives.