Checking this box will exclude inactive provider numbers from your search. Inactive provider numbers include hospitals that converted from acute care to critical access status, closures, mergers, etc.

All facilities that participate in the Medicare program are assigned a unique number that identifies the facility and is used for claims processing, cost reporting, etc. This number was originally referred to as the "Medicare Provider Number" but is now known as the CMS Certification Number (CCN). (Searching on a CCN will result in only one hospital.)

The Administrative Simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) mandated the adoption of a standard unique identifier for health care providers. A hospital may operate multiple entities. Sometimes these may include facilities or services that operate under the same provider number. Such Associated NPIs are identified by the hospital. (Searching on a provider number will result in only one hospital.)

Hospital Name, city, state, ZIP code, and telephone area code are taken from three sources according to the following precedence:

• Information may be collected and updated as the result of direct communications with hospitals, news items, etc. Such information has highest precedence over other sources.
• Information may be collected or updated directly from a hospital's website or from a system's website.
• Information for hospitals without websites may be taken from their most recent Medicare cost report and/or the Medicare Provider of Services file. (Data for these hospitals are updated quarterly as new versions of these files become available. Data from these sources are only used when information is not available from a website or through direct communications.)

Searching by city, state, or ZIP code is a good way to narrow your search to a geographic area. Searching by name can be challenging unless you are sure you know the exact name. (If you have trouble you might want to use the Quick Search instead.)

The type of facility is determined from the last four digits of its Medicare provider number. (To select more than one hold down the Ctrl key in Windows or the Command key in Macintosh as you select from the drop-down box.):

The presence of a clinical service is determined using data from a hospital's most recent Medicare Cost Report, Medicare inpatient claims data, Medicare outpatient claims data, and other sources. Specifications used to identify the presence of a service are documented on the Profile report in the section where the services are reported. Services are listed alphabetically in the pull-down box but listed categorically on the Profile report. (To select more than one hold down the Ctrl key in Windows or the Command key in Macintosh as you select from the drop-down box.)

A hospital's type of control is taken from its most recent Medicare cost report (HCRIS file). "Voluntary" hospitals are also known as "Not-for-profit" hospitals and may be owned by a religious organization or other entity. "Proprietary" hospitals are also known as "For-profit" hospitals and may be owned by an individual, business partnership, or corporation. There are hospitals that may be owned by federal, city, state, or local governments. (To select more than one hold down the Ctrl key in Windows or the Command key in Macintosh as you select from the drop-down box.)

• Voluntary Nonprofit, Church
• Voluntary Nonprofit, Other
• Proprietary, Individual
• Proprietary, Corporation
• Proprietary, Partnership
• Proprietary, Other
• Governmental, Federal
• Governmental, City-County
• Governmental, County
• Governmental, State
• Governmental Hospital District
• Governmental, City
• Governmental, Other

Some hospitals are associated with a medical school and serve as a practical educational site for medical students, interns, and residents. There are three ways to search for such hospitals by clicking on the corresponding category in the drop-down box.

• Hospitals with major teaching programs are typically members of the Council of Teaching Hospitals.
• Hospitals with significant teaching programs are typically members of the American College of Graduate Medical Education
• Hospitals with any type of teaching program are identified on their Medicare Cost Report

Hospital affiliations are obtained from websites and other commercial sources. System affiliations are continually monitored and update through industry news sources (i.e. acquisitions, divestitures, etc.). You can select hospitals from a specific system by clicking on it in the drop-down box.

Numbers of staffed beds are taken from a hospital's most recent Medicare cost report. Cost report instructions define staffed beds as, "the number of beds available for use by patients at the end of the cost reporting period. A bed means an adult bed, pediatric bed, birthing room, or newborn bed maintained in a patient care area for lodging patients in acute, long term, or domiciliary areas of the hospital. Beds in labor room, birthing room, postanesthesia, postoperative recovery rooms, outpatient areas, emergency rooms, ancillary departments, nurses' and other staff residences, and other such areas which are regularly maintained and utilized for only a portion of the stay of patients (primarily for special procedures or not for inpatient lodging) are not termed a bed for these purposes.

There are two ways to identify hospitals according to their number of beds:

• Routine beds are general medical/surgical beds used for routine care.
• Special Care beds include Intensive Care Units, Coronary Care Units, etc.

You can specify a minimum and/or a maximum number of beds for either (or both) when defining your search criteria.

The total number of inpatient discharges (all payors) is taken from a hospital's most recent Medicare Cost Report. You can specify a minimum and/or a maximum number of discharges when defining your search criteria.

The total patient revenue (inpatient and outpatient) is taken from a hospital's most recent Medicare Cost Report. You can specify a minimum and/or a maximum revenue amount when defining your search criteria.

The classification is based on Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) that are defined by the Census Department based on functional regions around urban centers with a population of at least 10,000. These CBSAs can be categorized as either a metropolitan or micropolitan areas. A metropolitan statistical area must have at least one urbanized area with a population of 50,000 or more. Micropolitan statistical areas must have at least one urban cluster of at least 10,000 but less than 50,000 population. For the purposes of this search, you can specify hospitals located within any CBSA, any micropolitan area, any metropolitan area, any rural area (not in any CBSA), or only hospitals from a particular CBSA when defining your search criteria.

Medicare classifies a hospital as either "Urban" or "Rural" based on its location. However, hospitals can also be reclassified from rural to urban or urban to rural if they meet certain criteria. This option allows for searches which include these modifications to the urban/rural status by CMS.

Most hospitals belong to one or more Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) so that they can benefit from lower supply prices negotiated on behalf of a group of hospitals. You can specify only hospitals associated with a specific GPO when defining your search criteria.

You can specify only hospitals within certain counties when defining your search criteria. You must first select a state from the pull-down box and then select one or more counties from the corresponding pull-down box. (To select more than one county hold down the Ctrl key in Windows or the Command key in Macintosh as you select.)

You can specify only hospitals within a certain distance from a specific ZIP code or from a specific hospital when defining your search criteria. The distance is specified in miles and either a ZIP code or a hospital Provider Number is specified as the center.