Hospital rankings
Hospitals in North Dakota with the highest value-based purchasing score
6 North Dakota hospitals ranked by value-based purchasing score in the 2026 Medicare (CMS) data. Leading: Sanford Medical Center Bismarck, Trinity Hospitals, Sanford Medical Center Fargo. Filter by type, ownership and size, choose the measures you care about, and sort by any column.
| # | Hospital | Value-based purchasing scorehigher is better | Net Medicare quality adjustmenthigher is better | Readmissions penaltyhigher is better | Hospital-acquired condition scorelower is better | Value-based purchasing adjustmenthigher is better | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National average | 31 | −0.48% | −0.34% | 0.00 | +0.13% | ||
| 1 | Sanford Medical Center Bismarck | 47, 91st percentile | +1.11%, 94th percentile | −0.14%, 55th percentile | −0.17, 59th percentile | +1.25%, 91st percentile | Compare Sanford Medical Center Bismarck |
| 2 | Trinity Hospitals | 39, 77th percentile | +0.62%, 87th percentile | −0.05%, 69th percentile | −0.30, 68th percentile | +0.67%, 77th percentile | Compare Trinity Hospitals |
| 3 | Sanford Medical Center Fargo | 31, 57th percentile | +0.12%, 77th percentile | −0.03%, 73rd percentile | −0.31, 69th percentile | +0.15%, 56th percentile | Compare Sanford Medical Center Fargo |
| 4 | CHI St Alexius Health | 25, 34th percentile | −1.28%, 20th percentile | −0.01%, 77th percentile | +0.81, 10th percentile | −0.27%, 34th percentile | Compare CHI St Alexius Health |
| 5 | Essentia Health | 24, 31st percentile | −0.48%, 47th percentile | −0.15%, 54th percentile | −0.51, 80th percentile | −0.33%, 31st percentile | Compare Essentia Health |
| 6 | Altru Hospital | 11, 2nd percentile | −1.22%, 21st percentile | 0.00%, 89th percentile | −0.08, 52nd percentile | −1.22%, 2nd percentile | Compare Altru Hospital |
About these rankings
Rankings use the 2026 release of CMS Care Compare data. Hospitals share a rank (“T”) when their values are equal, and only hospitals with a reported value for the sorted measure are ranked. Shading compares each value with every hospital in the country, so it doesn’t change with your filters. Small differences are often not statistically meaningful; use the methodology and glossary for context.
- Value-based purchasing score
- Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Total Performance Score (0-100), from outcomes, safety, patient experience and efficiency. It sets a Medicare bonus or penalty..
- Net Medicare quality adjustment
- Approximate combined change to the hospital's Medicare inpatient payments from the three pay-for-performance programs, added together: the readmissions penalty, the value-based purchasing bonus or penalty, and the 1% cut for hospital-acquired conditions. Inpatient prospective payment system hospitals only; Maryland hospitals are exempt..
- Readmissions penalty
- Change to Medicare payments under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, which cuts payments (by up to 3%) to hospitals with more readmissions than expected. 0% means no penalty..
- Hospital-acquired condition score
- Total score in the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program, from patient safety events and infections (weighted z-scores; 0 is about average, higher is worse). Medicare cuts payments 1% for the worst-scoring quarter of hospitals..
- Value-based purchasing adjustment
- Change to Medicare payments under Hospital Value-Based Purchasing: a bonus (positive) or penalty (negative, up to 2%) based on the Total Performance Score..