Healthcare Insights

Top 50 hospitals by HAC scores

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program to incentivize hospitals to take stronger precautionary measures to reduce the number of preventable illnesses and readmissions post-acute care.

HACs can lead to increased healthcare spending, a higher risk of patient deaths and readmissions, and longer lengths of stay.

CMS tracks 14 HACs across several categories, including surgical site infections (SSIs), bloodstream infections (BSIs), and pressure ulcers. However, the HAC Reduction Program takes only six of these into account:

  • Clostridium difficile (C. Diff)
  • Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI)
  • Central-line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI)
  • Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
  • Surgical site infections for colon surgeries and hysterectomies

Scores reflect hospital performance on HACs compared to the national mean. A negative domain score indicates a better performance since it reflects values below (or better than) the national mean.

This Healthcare Insight reviews hospital HAC Reduction Program scores tracked in the Definitive Healthcare HospitalView product. Results are based on 2021 data from the October 2022 update.

Top U.S. hospitals by HAC Reduction Program score

Definitive IDHospital nameLocationHAC 2021 total scoreExplore dataset
4855Mayhill HospitalDenton, TX-1.95Explore
1357Indiana Orthopaedic Hospital (AKA OrthoIndy Hospital Main)Indianapolis, IN-1.73Explore
1614Kansas Spine & Specialty HospitalWichita, KS-1.73Explore
776981Mercy Specialty Hospital - Southeast Kansas (AKA Premier Surgical Institute)Galena, KS-1.73Explore
3136Mount Carmel New AlbanyNew Albany, OH-1.73Explore
3321Oklahoma Spine HospitalOklahoma City, OK-1.73Explore
4005Texas Orthopedic HospitalHouston, TX-1.73Explore
3236Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center HospitalFairlawn, OH-1.71Explore
7166OASIS Hospital (AKA Orthopedic and Spine Inpatient Surgical Hospital)Phoenix, AZ-1.69Explore
3323McBride Clinic Orthopedic Hospital LLCOklahoma City, OK-1.67Explore
3709Black Hills Surgical HospitalRapid City, SD-1.64Explore
1756The Spine Hospital of Louisiana at the NeuroMedical Center (FKA the Neuromedical Center Surgical Hospital)Baton Rouge, LA-1.61Explore
4113Quail Creek Surgical HospitalAmarillo, TX-1.6Explore
3276Bristow Medical Center (Closed)Bristow, OK-1.58Explore
1617Kansas Surgery & Recovery CenterWichita, KS-1.57Explore
181CORE Institute Specialty Hospital (FKA the Surgical Hospital of Phoenix)Phoenix, AZ-1.56Explore
1738Specialists Hospital ShreveportShreveport, LA-1.55Explore
202Oro Valley HospitalOro Valley, AZ-1.54Explore
4220The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (AKA TOSH)Murray, UT-1.51Explore
1076Pali Momi Medical CenterAiea, HI-1.5Explore
3744Saint Thomas Hospital for Specialty Surgery (FKA the Hospital for Spinal Surgery)Nashville, TN-1.5Explore
542017Methodist Olive Branch HospitalOlive Branch, MS-1.47Explore
4141Baylor Scott & White Surgical Hospital - Fort WorthFort Worth, TX-1.46Explore
3916Baylor Scott & White Heart and Vascular Hospital - Dallas (FKA Baylor Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular)Dallas, TX-1.43Explore
386Glendora Hospital (FKA Glendora Oaks Behavioral Health Hospital)Glendora, CA-1.43Explore
3639Prisma Health Patewood Hospital (FKA Patewood Hospital)Greenville, SC-1.43Explore
274Arkansas Surgical HospitalNorth Little Rock, AR-1.4Explore
4440Stonewall Jackson Memorial HospitalWeston, WV-1.36Explore
552496Baylor Scott & White Orthopedic and Spine Hospital - ArlingtonArlington, TX-1.34Explore
553365CHRISTUS Central Louisiana Surgical Hospital (FKA Central Louisiana Surgical Hospital)Alexandria, LA-1.34Explore
3413Legacy Silverton Medical Center (AKA Silverton Hospital)Silverton, OR-1.34Explore
4077Grace Medical Center (AKA Grace Health System - Closed)Lubbock, TX-1.33Explore
110Coosa Valley Medical CenterSylacauga, AL-1.32Explore
329Fresno Surgical HospitalFresno, CA-1.32Explore
2696Salem Medical Center (FKA the Memorial Hospital of Salem County)Salem, NJ-1.32Explore
3926Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - UptownDallas, TX-1.31Explore
4044CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital - Sulphur Springs (FKA Hopkins County Memorial Hospital)Sulphur Springs, TX-1.31Explore
3726LaFollette Medical Center (FKA St Marys Medical Center of Campbell County)La Follette, TN-1.31Explore
2524OrthoNebraska Hospital (FKA Nebraska Orthopaedic Hospital)Omaha, NE-1.31Explore
2942ECU Health Beaufort Hospital (FKA Vidant Beaufort Hospital)Washington, NC-1.28Explore
704UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical CenterSteamboat Springs, CO-1.27Explore
1440UnityPoint Health Dubuque - Finley HospitalDubuque, IA-1.27Explore
3835Volunteer Hospital (FKA Tennova Healthcare - Volunteer Martin)Martin, TN-1.27Explore
1641Kentucky River Medical CenterJackson, KY-1.26Explore
575766Lone Peak HospitalDraper, UT-1.26Explore
182Abrazo West Campus (FKA West Valley Hospital)Goodyear, AZ-1.25Explore
265Helena Regional Medical CenterHelena, AR-1.25Explore
1042Piedmont Mountainside HospitalJasper, GA-1.25Explore
3704Sioux Falls Specialty HospitalSioux Falls, SD-1.25Explore
103Troy Regional Medical CenterTroy, AL-1.25Explore

Fig 1. Data is from the Definitive Healthcare HospitalView product and sourced from the 2021 results published by CMS. Accessed December 2022.

Which hospital has the best HAC score?

Mayhill Hospital in Denton, Texas has the lowest HAC Reduction Program score at -1.95. The next six hospitals each have a score of -1.73

Nine of the top 50 hospitals on the list are located in Texas, which is also the state with the highest number of total hospitals. Nearly two-thirds of the hospitals on the list (32) are in the southeast or the southwest U.S.

How are HAC scores calculated?

Since 2018, CMS used the winsorized z-score methodology to calculate HAC total score. With this process, the raw measure result of hospitals that fall below the 5th percentile and above the 95th percentile are set to the 5th and 95th percentile, respectively. This is done to reduce the impact of outliers in score calculations.

The scores displayed are determined by taking a hospital’s winsorized measure result, subtracting the mean of winsorized measure results, and then dividing that result by the standard deviation of winsorized measure results.

Learn more

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