CMS Releases April 2026 Public Reporting Hospital and Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Data for Preview

2026-2-19

What is the Public Reporting data preview?

Starting today, facilities participating in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program, Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program, Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR) Program, Rural Emergency Hospital Quality Reporting (REHQR) Program, Prospective Payment System-exempt Cancer Hospitals Quality Reporting (PCHQR) Program, and inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs) participating in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting (IPFQR) Program, have 30-days to preview data that will be publicly reported.

When can hospitals preview their data?

From February 19 through March 20, 2026, on the CMS Hospital Quality Reporting (HQR) page, hospitals, REHs, and IPFs can preview the data that will publicly appear in April 2026 on the Compare tool on Medicare.gov and the Provider Data Catalog available at data.cms.gov/provider-data/. We encourage hospitals and IPFs to look at their information early in the preview period to allow time for a thorough review.

How do hospitals preview their data?

1. You can access your preview data by following these steps:
2. Navigate to the HQR page: https://hqr.cms.gov/hqrng/login
3. Enter your Health Care Quality Information Systems Access Roles and Profile User ID and Password. By logging in, you agree to the Terms & Conditions. Select Log In.
4. You will see the Two-Factor Authorization page. Select Text or Email. Select Next.
5. Enter the code you received. Then, select Next.
6. On the HQR landing page, hover over Lock Menu on the left side.
7. Select Program Reporting.
8. From the drop-down menu, select Public Reporting.
9. The page will refresh, and the data will be available to preview.

Where can hospitals get help with the data preview?

Hospitals can find a help guide on CMS’ QualityNet website:

• Combined Public Reporting Preview Help Guide

Hospitals can also find these quick reference guides to help preview the content:

• Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting Program Public Reporting Preview Quick Reference Guide
• Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program Public Reporting Preview Quick Reference Guide
• Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program Public Reporting Preview Quick Reference Guide
• Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program Public Reporting Preview Quick Reference Guide
• Prospective Payment System-exempt Cancer Hospital Quality Reporting Program Public Reporting Preview Quick Reference Guide
• Rural Emergency Hospital Quality Reporting Public Reporting Preview Quick Reference Guide

Where can hospitals get more information about the data preview?

Submit questions to the Inpatient and Outpatient Healthcare Quality Systems Development and Program Support Contract Team via the QualityNet Question and Answer Tool or phone assistance: 

• For inpatient questions call (844) 472-4477 or (866) 800-8765 weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). 
• For outpatient questions call (866) 800-8756 weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. 

Submit questions to the Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings Team via the QualityNet Question and Answer Tool.