VA Hospital

VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System - University Dr

University Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15240
24/7 Emergency Services
3 out of 5 Stars Why 3 stars? VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System - University Dr's 3-star rating reflects below-average performance on Safety of Care.

CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating · VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System - University Dr

How was VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System - University Dr's 3-star rating calculated?

The CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating applies to acute care hospitals like VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System - University Dr. CMS standardizes every underlying measure against the national rate, computes a weighted score for each of five domains, sums them by the fixed weights below, and assigns 1–5 stars using k-means clustering across all reporting hospitals.

Domains that fed VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System - University Dr's rating
Domain Weight Measures reported Hospital performance vs. national
Mortality 22% 4 of 7 1 better 3 same 0 worse
Safety of Care 22% 15 of 19 0 better 12 same 3 worse
Readmissions 22% N/A VA hospitals don't participate in this CMS program
Timely & Effective Care 12% N/A VA hospitals don't participate in this CMS program
Patient Experience 22% HCAHPS See HCAHPS detail below

Context that affects how to read this rating

VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System - University Dr is a VA Medical Center. Quality measures shown above come from CMS via the VA's participation in federal quality reporting — covering mortality, safety (including hospital-acquired infections), and patient experience. VA hospitals do not participate in the Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) or Timely & Effective Care reporting, so those domains are not measured here. The VA also publishes its own per-facility quality framework called SAIL (Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning) which covers veterans-specific care quality.

How star meaning varies by hospital type. This CMS Overall Star Rating only applies to acute care hospitals. Children's hospitals (Pediatric Quality), psychiatric hospitals (IPFQR), inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF QRP), long-term acute care hospitals (LTACH QRP), and VA medical centers each use separate quality programs designed for their patient populations. Comparing star ratings across these facility types isn't meaningful — see the methodology page for the full mapping of which program applies to which facility.

How CareRanks computes ratings → · CMS official methodology ↗

Quality measures

Mortality

Same as National Average

Measures the rate at which patients die within 30 days of hospital admission for specific conditions. A lower mortality rate indicates better outcomes.

Underlying measures: Death rate for pneumonia patients Better Than the National Rate Hospital score: 12.90 95% interval: 10.30 – 15.80 Sample size: 397 Reporting period: 07/01/2021 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: MORT_30_PN Death rate for COPD patients No Different Than the National Rate Hospital score: 7.80 95% interval: 5.70 – 10.60 Sample size: 338 Reporting period: 07/01/2021 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: MORT_30_COPD Death rate for heart attack patients No Different Than the National Rate Hospital score: 9.90 95% interval: 7.50 – 12.80 Sample size: 203 Reporting period: 07/01/2021 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: MORT_30_AMI Death rate for heart failure patients No Different Than the National Rate Hospital score: 9.90 95% interval: 8.00 – 12.30 Sample size: 641 Reporting period: 07/01/2021 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: MORT_30_HF Hybrid Hospital-Wide All-Cause Risk Standardized Mortality Rate Not Available Hospital score: — Reporting period: 07/01/2023 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: Hybrid_HWM Death rate for CABG surgery patients Not Available Hospital score: — Reporting period: 07/01/2021 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: MORT_30_CABG Death rate for stroke patients Not Available Hospital score: — Reporting period: 07/01/2021 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: MORT_30_STK

Safety of Care

Below National Average

Tracks hospital-acquired infections, surgical complications, and other patient safety indicators. Lower rates indicate better safety practices.

Underlying measures: Abdominopelvic accidental puncture or laceration rate No Different Than the National Rate Hospital score: 1.10 95% interval: 0.20 – 1.99 Sample size: 2,043 Reporting period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: PSI_15 Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections (ICU + select Wards) No Different than National Benchmark Hospital score: 0.56 SIR Reporting period: 07/01/2024 – 06/30/2025 CMS measure id: HAI_2_SIR Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection (ICU + select Wards) No Different than National Benchmark Hospital score: 0.63 SIR Reporting period: 07/01/2024 – 06/30/2025 CMS measure id: HAI_1_SIR Iatrogenic pneumothorax rate No Different Than the National Rate Hospital score: 0.35 95% interval: 0.15 – 0.55 Sample size: 10,981 Reporting period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: PSI_06 Rate of complications for hip/knee replacement patients No Different Than the National Rate Hospital score: 3.40 95% interval: 2.10 – 5.40 Sample size: 293 Reporting period: 04/01/2021 – 03/31/2024 CMS measure id: COMP_HIP_KNEE In-hospital fall-associated fracture rate No Different Than the National Rate Hospital score: 0.43 95% interval: 0.24 – 0.61 Sample size: 11,705 Reporting period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: PSI_08 Postoperative hemorrhage or hematoma rate No Different Than the National Rate Hospital score: 2.10 95% interval: 0.90 – 3.31 Sample size: 2,627 Reporting period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: PSI_09 Perioperative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis rate No Different Than the National Rate Hospital score: 2.90 95% interval: 0.99 – 4.80 Sample size: 2,722 Reporting period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: PSI_12 Postoperative acute kidney injury requiring dialysis rate No Different Than the National Rate Hospital score: 1.09 95% interval: 0.00 – 2.49 Sample size: 1,471 Reporting period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: PSI_10 Postoperative sepsis rate No Different Than the National Rate Hospital score: 3.94 95% interval: 0.92 – 6.96 Sample size: 1,413 Reporting period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: PSI_13 Death rate among surgical inpatients with serious treatable complications No Different Than the National Rate Hospital score: 186.42 95% interval: 130.17 – 242.67 Sample size: 75 Reporting period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: PSI_04 Postoperative wound dehiscence rate No Different Than the National Rate Hospital score: 1.40 95% interval: 0.04 – 2.77 Sample size: 688 Reporting period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: PSI_14 Postoperative respiratory failure rate Worse Than the National Rate Hospital score: 14.59 95% interval: 9.60 – 19.57 Sample size: 1,475 Reporting period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: PSI_11 Pressure ulcer rate Worse Than the National Rate Hospital score: 1.61 95% interval: 1.06 – 2.16 Sample size: 7,708 Reporting period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: PSI_03 CMS Medicare PSI 90: Patient safety and adverse events composite Worse Than the National Value Hospital score: 1.36 95% interval: 1.10 – 1.62 Reporting period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2024 CMS measure id: PSI_90 Clostridium Difficile (C.Diff) Not Available Hospital score: — SIR Reporting period: 07/01/2024 – 06/30/2025 CMS measure id: HAI_6_SIR MRSA Bacteremia Not Available Hospital score: — SIR Reporting period: 07/01/2024 – 06/30/2025 CMS measure id: HAI_5_SIR SSI - Abdominal Hysterectomy Not Available Hospital score: — SIR Reporting period: 07/01/2024 – 06/30/2025 CMS measure id: HAI_4_SIR SSI - Colon Surgery Not Available Hospital score: — SIR Reporting period: 07/01/2024 – 06/30/2025 CMS measure id: HAI_3_SIR

Readmissions

Not measured for this facility type

Measures how often patients return to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. Lower readmission rates suggest effective treatment and discharge planning.

VA hospitals do not participate in this Medicare-only CMS program.

Patient Experience

Same as National Average

Based on the HCAHPS survey — patient satisfaction with communication, cleanliness, pain management, and discharge information.

Patient survey detail — the questions feeding the Patient Experience domain above expand ↓

CMS computes the Patient Experience domain from the federal HCAHPS survey. Each bar below is one survey question; the percentage is the share of VA's recent patients who gave the most positive response. HCAHPS percentages aren't directly comparable across all measures — see the methodology page for how CMS weights them.

  • Communication with Nurses 84%
  • Communication with Doctors 83%
  • Hospital Cleanliness 71%
  • Hospital Quietness 54%
  • Staff Responsiveness N/A
  • Discharge Information 86%
  • Overall Hospital Rating (9 or 10) 76%
  • Would Recommend Hospital 74%

Percentages represent patients who gave the most positive response. Survey conducted by CMS through the HCAHPS program.

Timely & Effective Care

Not measured for this facility type

Measures how quickly the hospital provides important treatments such as antibiotics for pneumonia or interventions for heart attacks.

VA hospitals do not participate in this Medicare-only CMS program.

Pricing & Costs

Facility Information

Facility type
Acute Care - Veterans Administration
Ownership
Veterans Health Administration
Emergency services
Yes — 24/7
About this data

Quality and ratings data are sourced from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare program. Star ratings are CMS's own calculation; CareRanks does not modify or re-weight them. Facility-level details (address, beds, ownership, teaching status) come from CMS provider files and the CMS Provider of Services file.

Pricing data, where shown, is drawn from the hospital's own Machine-Readable File (MRF) published under the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule. See our methodology for the full update cadence and limitations.

Report an error on this page →