End-Stage Renal Disease and Clinical Laboratories Open Door Forum
Guidance for End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and Clinical Laboratories Open Door Forum (ODF) addresses the concerns of the renal care and lab service communities in relation to the Medicare & Medicaid programs
Issued by: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Issue Date: March 26, 2019
Dialysis Facility Care Compare (DFCC) on Medicare.gov
What is DFCC?
The Dialysis Facility Care Compare (DFCC) on Medicare.gov Care Compare website is hosted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and has information about dialysis clinics and the care they provide.
A key feature of the DFCC on Medicare.gov is the Quality of Patient Care Star Rating, which provides a simple summary of the quality of care a dialysis clinic provides. CMS developed the Quality of Patient Care Star Rating in response to a national call for greater transparency in how to measure the quality of care for patients with kidney disease and consumers’ desire to use health care quality data to make informed decisions. The Quality of Patient Care Star Rating was implemented in 2015.
The DFCC on Medicare.gov also includes Star Ratings from patient experience surveys collected through the In-Center Hemodialysis (ICH) Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey. Results from the survey are displayed as 1 to 5 stars based on how patients rated their facility.
Latest DFCC News
- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) July 2025 Dialysis Facilities Care Compare (DFCC) preview period has ended. Your facility or organization’s DFCC Patient Lists and Preview Period Reports were available for download in a new Care Compare module within the ESRD Quality Reporting System (EQRS). For more information and instructions on accessing your reports, click here (PDF).
- The DFCC April Refresh has been released. For more information, please review the April 2025 Refresh Questions and Answers (PDF). For information on previous refreshes, visit the DFCC Star Ratings & Data Refreshes page.
- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a new video, Why I Chose a Kidney Transplant – Patient Stories, which features stories from three people with kidney failure who received a kidney transplant.
- The video details their kidney transplant journeys, including:
- Starting on dialysis
- Getting on the kidney transplant list or finding a donor
- Recovery after the transplant
- Life post-transplant
- The video details their kidney transplant journeys, including:
You can watch the complete video and view the individual stories for Brandon, Chiquita, and Lisa.
Now available! Our new Provider Data Catalog makes it easier for you to search & download our publicly reported data. We’ve also improved Medicare’s compare sites.
HHS is committed to making its websites and documents accessible to the widest possible audience, including individuals with disabilities. We are in the process of retroactively making some documents accessible. If you need assistance accessing an accessible version of this document, please reach out to the guidance@hhs.gov.
DISCLAIMER: The contents of this database lack the force and effect of law, except as authorized by law (including Medicare Advantage Rate Announcements and Advance Notices) or as specifically incorporated into a contract. The Department may not cite, use, or rely on any guidance that is not posted on the guidance repository, except to establish historical facts.