The share of patients admitted for a specific condition who died within 30 days, counted wherever the death occurred — including at home or in another facility.
Why this matters to you
The window deliberately extends past discharge. A hospital cannot improve its figure by discharging unstable patients, because deaths after they leave still count. Lower is better. Most hospitals land in the "no different than the national benchmark" band, which is a normal result rather than a mediocre one.
Official source
The authoritative definition and current rules are published here:
Rules and figures change. Where this page and the official source disagree, the official source is correct — and we would like to know, so please tell us.
Related terms
Important:
hospiguide.org is an independent informational resource. It is not affiliated
with, endorsed by, or connected to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or Medicare.
This site does not provide medical advice and should not be used to decide
whether to seek or delay care — talk to a clinician about your situation.
Quality measures come from CMS public datasets, released August 13, 2026, and reflect
care delivered during earlier reporting periods, so they may not describe a
hospital as it operates today.
Always verify details at
Medicare.gov Care Compare
or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).