Hospital Compare Medicare Scraper

Extract CMS Care Compare / Medicare Hospital Compare data from the public CMS Provider Data API. Get hospital names, CCNs, addresses, ownership, emergency services, overall ratings, quality fields, and source metadata in a clean Apify dataset.

What does Hospital Compare Medicare Scraper do?

Hospital Compare Medicare Scraper downloads structured hospital/provider records from CMS Provider Data. It is built for repeatable healthcare data workflows where teams need current public Medicare hospital data without manually downloading CSV files.

The default run uses the CMS Hospital General Information dataset (xubh-q36u). Advanced users can provide any compatible CMS Provider Data dataset ID and still receive normalized fields plus the full CMS row in cmsRow.

Who is it for?

• 🏥 Healthcare analytics teams building hospital benchmarks
• 💳 Payers and provider-network teams checking facility coverage
• 📊 Consultants preparing CMS quality and compliance reports
• 🧭 Hospital strategy teams tracking ratings and ownership data
• 🔎 SEO and reputation teams creating local hospital directories
• ⚖️ Compliance teams that need repeatable public-source evidence

Why use this scraper?

CMS data is public, but the export workflow can be repetitive. This actor turns the CMS Provider Data API into a reusable Apify workflow with filters, normalized output, charging, API access, scheduling, webhooks, and integrations.

Data source

The actor uses CMS Provider Data API endpoints under:

https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/api/1

Default dataset:

xubh-q36u — Hospital General Information

Example use cases

• Export all hospitals in a state for market sizing
• Monitor overall hospital ratings for local competitors
• Build a provider directory with CCNs and contact details
• Join CMS hospital data with internal claims or network data
• Pull raw CMS rows for a downstream BI warehouse

How much does it cost to scrape CMS hospital compare data?

Pricing is pay-per-event. A small start fee is charged per run and a per-record fee is charged for each hospital/provider record saved. The default input is set to 100 records so first runs stay inexpensive.

Use maxItems to control cost. For large nationwide exports, start with a state filter or a few hundred records, verify the output, then increase the limit.

Input options

Field	Description
datasetPreset	Choose hospital_general or raw_dataset
datasetId	CMS Provider Data dataset ID when using raw_dataset
maxItems	Maximum records saved to the dataset
state	Optional two-letter state filter
facilityNameContains	Optional hospital name substring filter
facilityIds	Optional list of CMS CCNs / facility IDs
pageSize	CMS API page size
includeRawRecord	Include the full CMS row in rawRecord

Output fields

Field	Description
datasetId	CMS dataset identifier
datasetPreset	Selected preset
sourceDatasetUrl	CMS API URL used as source
providerCcn	CMS certification number / facility ID
facilityName	Hospital or facility name
address, city, state, zipCode, county	Location fields
phone	Telephone number
hospitalType	CMS hospital type
hospitalOwnership	Ownership category
emergencyServices	Emergency services flag
overallRating	Overall hospital rating when present
measureId, measureName, score	Measure fields for compatible datasets
comparedToNational	National comparison where present
footnote	CMS footnote text/code where present
reportingPeriod	Reporting period/date field where present
cmsRow	Complete source CMS row
scrapedAt	ISO timestamp of extraction

Sample output

{
  "datasetId": "xubh-q36u",
  "datasetPreset": "hospital_general",
  "providerCcn": "010001",
  "facilityName": "SOUTHEAST HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER",
  "city": "DOTHAN",
  "state": "AL",
  "hospitalType": "Acute Care Hospitals",
  "overallRating": "4",
  "sourceDatasetUrl": "https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/api/1/datastore/query/xubh-q36u/0",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-29T00:00:00.000Z"
}

How to run

1. Open the actor on Apify.
2. Keep the default hospital_general preset or enter a CMS dataset ID.
3. Set maxItems and optional filters.
4. Click Start.
5. Download the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS.

Tips for best results

• Use state for state-level exports.
• Use facilityIds when you already know the CMS CCNs you need.
• Keep includeRawRecord off unless you need a duplicate raw object.
• For raw CMS datasets, inspect the returned cmsRow to see dataset-specific columns.

Raw CMS dataset mode

Choose raw_dataset and provide a CMS Provider Data dataset ID such as xubh-q36u. The actor still normalizes common hospital fields when matching columns exist and preserves the full row in cmsRow.

Scheduling

Use Apify schedules to refresh hospital data monthly or after CMS data refreshes. Scheduled runs can send datasets to a webhook, cloud storage, or an integration platform.

Integrations

• Send output to Google Sheets for analyst review
• Push JSON to a data warehouse with Apify webhooks
• Use Make or Zapier to notify a team when ratings change
• Feed records into a provider directory or enrichment pipeline

API usage

Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/hospital-compare-medicare-scraper').call({
  datasetPreset: 'hospital_general',
  state: 'CA',
  maxItems: 100,
});
console.log(run.defaultDatasetId);

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient
import os

client = ApifyClient(os.environ['APIFY_TOKEN'])
run = client.actor('automation-lab/hospital-compare-medicare-scraper').call(run_input={
    'datasetPreset': 'hospital_general',
    'state': 'CA',
    'maxItems': 100,
})
print(run['defaultDatasetId'])

cURL

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~hospital-compare-medicare-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"datasetPreset":"hospital_general","state":"CA","maxItems":100}'

MCP access

Use the Apify MCP server with Claude Code or Claude Desktop:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/hospital-compare-medicare-scraper

Claude Code setup:

$claude mcp add apify-hospital-compare "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/hospital-compare-medicare-scraper"

Claude Desktop JSON config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-hospital-compare": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/hospital-compare-medicare-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Example prompts:

• "Run the Hospital Compare Medicare Scraper for California hospitals and summarize ownership types."
• "Extract 250 CMS hospital records and identify facilities with missing ratings."
• "Get hospital records for these CCNs and prepare a CSV export."

Data freshness

The actor fetches directly from CMS Provider Data at run time. Freshness depends on the CMS dataset itself, not a cached copy maintained by the actor.

Limitations

• It extracts public CMS Provider Data only.
• It does not access private Medicare systems or provider portals.
• Raw dataset mode normalizes common columns but dataset-specific fields remain in cmsRow.

Legality

CMS Provider Data is public government data. You are responsible for using the data in accordance with applicable laws, CMS terms, and your organization's compliance requirements.

FAQ

Can I use this for any CMS Provider Data hospital dataset?

Yes. Use raw_dataset with a CMS Provider Data dataset ID. Common columns are normalized and every original column remains in cmsRow.

Does this scrape private Medicare systems?

No. It extracts public CMS Provider Data only.

Troubleshooting

Why do some rating fields look empty?

CMS may publish blanks, footnotes, or dataset-specific column names. Check cmsRow for the original source fields.

Why did a raw dataset ID fail?

The actor expects CMS Provider Data dataset IDs supported by the /provider-data/api/1/datastore/query/{datasetId}/0 endpoint. Verify the dataset ID on data.cms.gov.

Related scrapers

• https://apify.com/automation-lab/website-contact-finder
• https://apify.com/automation-lab/google-maps-lead-finder
• https://apify.com/automation-lab/business-data-enrichment

Support

If you need another CMS dataset preset or a different healthcare output shape, open an issue from the Apify actor page with an example dataset and desired fields.