Quality of patient care for dialysis facilities
The dialysis facility quality of patient care rating shows you how a dialysis facility compares to other dialysis facilities on measurements of their performance. The rating, between 1 to 5 stars, is calculated using each dialysis facilities' scores on different quality of care measures. These measures include:
- Avoiding unnecessary transfusions
- Using the most effective access to the bloodstream
- Keeping a patient's bone mineral levels in balance
- Preventing hospitalizations & deaths
- Removing waste from blood
- Transplant waitlist
Five additional quality of care measures are reported, but aren't included in the quality of patient care rating. These include:
- Preventing bloodstream infections
- Nutritional status
- Preventing emergency department visits (2 measures)
- Healthcare personnel vaccination
- Dialysis modality
Use the quality of patient care star rating along with other quality information when making decisions about choosing a dialysis facility. Each dialysis facility gets a rating between 1 and 5 stars, with 3 stars representing the national average. A 5-star rating means a facility has quality of care that is considered 'much above average' compared to other dialysis facilities. A one or 2-star rating means that measured health outcomes for that facility were below average.