Methods, glossary, licensing, and data limitations

Snapshot methodology

Medical Outcomes Explorer uses build-time data refreshes to store a committed snapshot of real CMS and openFDA records under /data/2026-05. The frontend only reads those versioned files at render time, so the published site remains fully static.

The hospital routes currently track three hospitals and combine current CMS facility records with current CMS program files for complications, readmissions, HRRP, HACRP, and HVBP. Device routes currently track three openFDA product codes and aggregate yearly 510(k), adverse-event, and recall counts.

Government data sources

• CMS Hospital General Information
• CMS Complications and Deaths - Hospital
• CMS Unplanned Hospital Visits - Hospital
• CMS Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program
• CMS HAC Reduction Program
• CMS HVBP Clinical Outcomes
• openFDA device 510(k)
• openFDA device adverse events
• openFDA device recalls

API keys

CMS Provider Data Catalog endpoints used here do not require an API key. openFDA also works without an API key for the current usage pattern. The refresh script supports an optional OPENFDA_API_KEY environment variable to raise rate limits, but the committed snapshot was generated without one.

Glossary

HRRP

The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program publishes expected, predicted, and excess readmission values for target conditions.

HACRP

The Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program publishes infection standardized infection ratios and a total HAC score.

HVBP

The Hospital Value-Based Purchasing clinical outcomes file publishes baseline and performance rates for mortality and complication-related measures.

Licensing and disclaimers

CMS and FDA records linked here are public government data. The repository code is MIT licensed, while the underlying datasets remain governed by their original public data terms.

This project does not provide medical advice and does not represent official CMS or FDA interpretation.