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How to read hospital ratings on this site

Explainer ·

Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade

The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit, gives general hospitals a letter grade from A to F twice a year (spring and fall). The grade looks at patient safety: how well a hospital prevents infections, errors, accidents and injuries. We show the Spring 2026 grade as published by Leapfrog. Some hospitals have no grade. Leapfrog lists some without one, and critical access hospitals are generally not graded. In those cases we show the reason instead of a letter. A grade is about overall patient safety, not the price or quality of one test.

Source: Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Spring 2026.

CMS overall star rating

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) gives hospitals 1 to 5 stars on Care Compare. The rating sums up quality measures in five groups: mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience, and timely and effective care. More stars mean better results on those measures compared with other hospitals. CMS lists the rating as “Not Available” when a hospital does not report enough measures. Small and critical access hospitals often fall in that group. We then show “Not available” and never estimate a star.

Source: CMS Hospital General Information (Care Compare), downloaded Oct 30, 2026.

Emergency department

“Yes” means the hospital reports providing emergency services in the CMS Hospital General Information file, and “No” means it does not. It does not say how busy the emergency department is or how long you may wait. In an emergency, call 911.

Source: CMS Hospital General Information, “Emergency Services” field, downloaded Oct 30, 2026.

What these ratings do not tell you

None of these ratings show what a test or visit will cost. For prices, see each hospital’s page and our procedure price guides. Ratings can change after the dates above. Check the source sites for the latest.