Star Ratings Calculation
Methodology
Overview
This document explains how Press Ganey calculates star ratings for display on provider directories. The
intent is to use a simple calculation which allows end consumers to visualize provider performance in theform of star ratings. In general, the star rating is simply the mean score divided by 20, to get a star rating on
a 0-5 scale. MD Targeted Survey questions follow the same logic but are slightly more complex due to thedifferent survey response scales.
Star ratings at other aggregate levels (i.e., site-level star ratings) are calculated using this same
methodology. Instead of aggregating mean scores by provider, the mean scores would be aggregated bysite and then divided by 20 to get a star rating on a 0-5 scale.
Due to the small range of possible values (i.e. 0-5), Press Ganey does not recommend using star ratings as
an internal measure for provider performance.

Response Scale Conversion
Press Ganey Questions
All Press Ganey questions have 5 response categories and receive scores on a 0-100 scale as shown
below:
Score =Very Poor0Poor25Fair50Good75

Very Good100

MD Targeted Survey Questions
MD Targeted Survey questions have several response scales. For calculating star ratings, Press
Ganey uses the following conversions to calculate scores on a 0-100 scale:
No*0

Score =

Yes*
100

*The conversion of yes/no items depends on which response is the most favorable option.

Score =

Score =

No0Yes, Somewhat
50

Score =

Never0Sometimes
33.33

Usually
66.66

0-WorstProvider0© 2022 Press Ganey Associates LLC

Yes, Definitely
100

Always100

123456789102030

405060708090

10-bestprovider100

Provider Star Ratings
Provider star ratings on the 0-5 scale are calculated by dividing the provider’s question mean scores by 20.
The provider’s question mean scores are the average of patient responses to individual questions.
Summary star ratings are an average of a provider’s question level star ratings.
To illustrate this calculation, consider the example below:

PROVIDER: Doe, MD
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3

Patient
A

Patient
B

Patient
C

Patient
DPatient
E

ProviderMeanScore

50507575
075

1002575

100
100
10075
10075

805580Provider StarRating(Mean score ÷20)
4.00
2.75
4.00
3.58

Summary Rating

Provider Mean Score for Question 1 =50 + 75 + 100 + 100 + 75
5Provider Star Rating for Question 1 =Provider Summary Star Rating =80
20

4 + 2.75 + 4
3= 80= 4 Stars= 3.58 Stars

Patient Star Ratings
Patient star ratings are calculated by dividing the patient’s aggregate mean score by 20. For clients using
only one question in the patient star rating, the star rating would simply be the individual question score,
divided by 20. Please note that Press Ganey offers patient star ratings as an option, but strongly
encourages organizations to focus Transparency efforts on the provider star ratings.
To illustrate this calculation, consider the example below:

PROVIDER: Doe, MD
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Patient Aggregate Mean Score
Patient Star Rating(Mean score ÷ 20)

PatientA50
5075
58.33

Patient
B75
075
50.00

Patient
C100
2575
66.67

Patient
D100
100100100.00PatientE75
10075
83.33

2.92

2.50

3.33

5.00

4.17

Patient A Aggregate Mean Score =20© 2022 Press Ganey Associates LLC

Patient A Star Rating =50 + 50 + 75

58.33

3= 58.33= 2.92 Stars1