Source data
The register is built directly from the CMS Dialysis Facility Compare dataset, published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and updated quarterly. The dataset covers every U.S. dialysis facility certified to receive Medicare payment (7557 facilities at last refresh).
What's reported
Branmoor surfaces the published outcome measures most relevant to patients and value-based-care payers:
- Mortality — risk-adjusted Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR), categorised as Better / As Expected / Worse than expected given the facility's patient case mix
- Hospitalization — Standardized Hospitalization Ratio (SHR), same Better / Expected / Worse classification
- Transfusion — Standardized Transfusion Ratio (STrR), an indicator of anemia management and erythropoiesis-stimulating agent dosing
- Bloodstream infection — Standard Infection Ratio (SIR) per the CDC NHSN dialysis-event reporting
- Transplant waitlisting — First Year Standardized Kidney Transplant Waitlist Ratio (FYSWR), a measure of how well a facility refers patients for transplant
- ED visits — Standardized ED visits ratio, including the 30-day-after-discharge subset
Each measure carries the CMS classification (Better than Expected / As Expected / Worse than Expected) which accounts for case-mix and sample size. Branmoor displays both the raw rate and the classification.
Branmoor's outcome signal
Across the seven published measures, Branmoor aggregates the CMS classifications into a single per-facility signal:
- Elevated outcome signal — Worse than Expected on 2 or more reported measures
- Mixed signal — Worse than Expected on exactly 1 reported measure
- Better than expected — Better than Expected on 2 or more measures and Worse on none
- Outcomes as expected — otherwise
The aggregation is a navigation aid. The CMS-published measure-level classifications are the authoritative read; the per-facility page shows every measure with its own classification.
Ownership
The dataset includes the chain organization for each facility, which is meaningful: DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care together operate approximately three-quarters of U.S. dialysis facilities. The remaining quarter is split across smaller chains, independent operators, and hospital-system-operated facilities. The register exposes the chain column so that ownership patterns — including the documented between-facility mortality differential within the two large chains — are visible at the point of patient decision.
Update cadence
CMS refreshes Dialysis Facility Compare quarterly. Branmoor re-ingests on each site deploy; the freshness of the register is bounded by the CMS cadence.
Limits
- Reporting lag: outcome measures reflect prior reporting periods (typically 12–18 months of patient-time data). The register is not a real-time outbreak signal
- Newer facilities: facilities below CMS minimum-volume thresholds for a measure are flagged as Not Available rather than scored
- What's not here yet: water-quality violations from EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (planned), the full ESRD claims-derived outcomes (DUA-gated), and the metropolitan-area peer-comparison layer (planned)