Number of 5-star hospitals doubles in updated CMS ratings; See the data

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services quietly updated its database of hospital star ratings last week, and for many hospitals the news was good.

For the reporting period from October 2013 to the end of September 2014, 548 hospitals earned five stars, more than double the 251 that earned five stars when the rankings were first announced in April. CMS has previously said it would update its rankings quarterly, which are based on answers to the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems surveys.

[See scores from the April data]

As for hospitals with the lowest ratings, this time 102 hospitals earned just one star, compared to 101 in April.

More than 3,500 hospitals participated in the program.

While this year there has been much debate on the importance of hospital ratings and scrutiny over how scores vary depending on what entity is assessing facilities -- Leapfrog, Healthgrades, Truven, US News -- quality ratings by the CMS in many ways carry more weight since they are often tied to value-based reimbursement levels in Medicare.

Here's the full list of the most recent star ratings, sortable by score and searchable by state and facility. Stay tuned for more analysis of the scores by Healthcare Finance.

Twitter: @HenryPowderly