CMS certification 220075
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
243 Charles Street, Boston, MA 02114
CMS does not publish an overall star rating for Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. 83% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. On all 5 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it is no different from the national rate. Emergency patients spend a median of 2 h 54 min in its emergency department before leaving (US median 2 h 42 min).
Every figure on this page is published by CMS; we arrange and explain it, and score nothing ourselves.
What patients said
Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 351 completed surveys, 28% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.
Emergency department
How long emergency patients spent here and how some time-critical care went, from CMS's timely and effective care measures, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025. CMS classes this emergency department's patient volume as medium; busier departments tend to have longer times, so the national median for departments of the same volume is shown too. These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.
| Measure | This hospital | MA | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 397 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 2 h 45 min | 2 h 54 min | 3 h 34 min | 2 h 42 min |
| Left before being seen Lower is better · 33,439 patients | 3% | 4% | 2% |
How Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary compares with nearby hospitals
The closest hospitals of the same kind that CMS rates or surveys - the same city first, then the same county and ZIP area. Every figure is CMS's: the overall star rating, the share of patients who would definitely recommend the hospital, the median time emergency patients spent before leaving, and how many death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS found better or worse than the national rate.
| Hospital | CMS stars | Would recommend | ER median time | Vs the nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts Eye and Ear InfirmaryThis hospital | Not rated | 83% | 2 h 54 min | No different |
| Massachusetts General HospitalSame city | 5/5 | 85% | 4 h 48 min | 15 better 4 worse |
| Brigham and Women's HospitalSame city | 5/5 | 81% | 5 h | 8 better 2 worse |
| Tufts Medical CenterSame city | 2/5 | 79% | 3 h 28 min | 2 better 3 worse |
| Boston Medical CenterSame city | 3/5 | 73% | 3 h 47 min | 4 better 1 worse |
| New England Baptist HospitalSame city | 5/5 | 86% | — | 2 better 1 worse |
Hospitals differ in size and in how sick their patients are. CMS adjusts its outcome measures for that, but a star or a percentage is a starting point for questions, not a verdict. All hospitals in Boston.
Deaths
How many patients died within 30 days of admission, adjusted by CMS for how sick they were. Lower is better. Data from Jul 2022 – Jun 2025.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| All patients, hospital-wide 284 cases | Too few cases | 4% | 3.9% |
6 more measures had too few cases here to report.
Complications
How often patients had serious complications, most of them after surgery, adjusted for how sick they were. Lower is better. Data from Jul 2022 – Jun 2024.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serious complications, combined measure | No different | 0.83 likely 0.4 – 1.26 | 1 |
| Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 446 cases | No different | 0.39 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 1.45 per 1,000 | 0.63 per 1,000 |
| Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 727 cases | No different | 0.2 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 0.43 per 1,000 | 0.21 per 1,000 |
| Broken bones from falls in the hospital 739 cases | No different | 0.26 per 1,000 likely 0.04 per 1,000 – 0.47 per 1,000 | 0.27 per 1,000 |
| Bleeding or hematoma after surgery 544 cases | Worse | 4.95 per 1,000 likely 3.56 per 1,000 – 6.33 per 1,000 | 2.34 per 1,000 |
| Kidney injury needing dialysis after surgery 413 cases | No different | 1.55 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 3.22 per 1,000 | 1.67 per 1,000 |
| Breathing failure after surgery 180 cases | No different | 7.3 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 16.28 per 1,000 | 9.42 per 1,000 |
| Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgery 581 cases | No different | 2.96 per 1,000 likely 0.53 per 1,000 – 5.39 per 1,000 | 3.52 per 1,000 |
| Sepsis after surgery 409 cases | No different | 3.79 per 1,000 likely 0.09 per 1,000 – 7.48 per 1,000 | 5.27 per 1,000 |
| Accidental cut or tear during abdominal surgery 100 cases | No different | 1.03 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 2.11 per 1,000 | 1.06 per 1,000 |
3 more measures had too few cases here to report.
Infections caught in the hospital
Standardized infection ratio: 1.0 means as many infections as CMS predicted for a hospital like this one. Lower is better. Data from Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| C. diff intestinal infections | No different | 0.59 likely 0.03 – 2.93 | 1 |
5 more measures had too few cases here to report.
Readmissions and return visits
How often patients had to come back to a hospital after going home. Lower is better. Data from Jul 2023 – Jun 2025.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital admissions during outpatient chemotherapy 27 cases | No different | 10.2 per 100 likely 6.9 per 100 – 15.2 per 100 | 10.7 per 100 |
| ER visits during outpatient chemotherapy 27 cases | No different | 5.7 per 100 likely 3.6 per 100 – 9.2 per 100 | 5.4 per 100 |
| Unplanned visits after outpatient surgery 692 cases | No different | 0.9 likely 0.7 – 1.2 | — |
11 more measures had too few cases here to report.
Clinicians registered at this address
584 clinicians give this hospital's street address as their practice location in NPPES, the federal provider registry, plus 77 residents and trainees. The same address can take in offices and clinics in the building, and a listing does not prove admitting privileges or current employment.
| Specialty | Clinicians |
|---|---|
| Ophthalmology | 178 |
| Audiologist | 105 |
| Otolaryngology | 58 |
| Anesthesiology | 55 |
| Nurse Anesthetist, Certified Registered | 19 |
| Optometrist | 15 |
| Physician Assistant | 12 |
| Speech-Language Pathologist | 11 |
| Neurology | 10 |
| Diagnostic Radiology | 9 |
| Emergency Medicine | 9 |
| Pediatric Otolaryngology | 8 |
First 12 alphabetically
Money from drug and device companies
Drug and device makers have to report what they pay teaching hospitals to CMS's Open Payments program. At many teaching hospitals most of it is research funding, or royalties for inventions the hospital licensed to a company. A payment on its own does not show a conflict of interest.
- 2019 $3.1M
- 2020 $2.2M
- 2021 $2.3M
- 2022 $1.5M
- 2023 $1.7M
- 2024 $1.8M
- 2025 $2.1M
What the 2025 general payments were for
| Type of payment | Amount | Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Royalties and licensing fees | $626,805 | 8 |
| Grants | $495,735 | 12 |
| Speaking, teaching and other services | $126,073 | 2 |
| Education | $96,905 | 12 |
| Space rental and facility fees | $28,500 | 4 |
| Medical devices and supplies on long-term loan | $5,000 | 1 |
| Charitable contributions | $2,500 | 1 |
| Debt forgiveness | $1,014 | 5 |
Largest paying companies, 2025
| Company | Amount | Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Bausch & Lomb Americas Inc. | $635,440 | 5 |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | $515,050 | 12 |
| Janssen Research & Development, LLC | $337,364 | 28 |
| Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc. | $136,929 | 36 |
| Analog Devices Inc. | $116,073 | 1 |
| KARL STORZ Endoscopy-America | $98,905 | 14 |
| Cochlear Americas | $65,624 | 10 |
| Spark Therapeutics, Inc. | $44,252 | 3 |
Largest research studies funded here, 2025
| Study | Amount |
|---|---|
| A PROSPECTIVE, OBSERVATIONAL STUDY IN ADULTS WITH RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA (RP) Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc. · NCT06517940 | $104,087 |
| Long-term Follow-up Gene Therapy Study for RPGR- XLRP Janssen Research & Development, LLC | $102,167 |
| An Open-label, Multicenter, Phase 2 Follow-on Study for Second Eye Treatment of Patients Previously Treated With a Recombinant Adeno-associated Virus… Janssen Research & Development, LLC | $79,949 |
| An Open-label, Multicenter, Phase 2 Follow-on Study for Second Eye Treatment of Patients Previously Treated With a Recombinant Adeno-associated Virus… Janssen Research & Development, LLC | $76,039 |
| Follow-up Gene Therapy Trial for the Treatment of X-linked Retinitis Pigmentosa Associated With Variants in the RPGR Gene Janssen Research & Development, LLC | $69,208 |
| Measures sensitive to the presence of auditory nerve peripheral processes in patients with and without DFNA9 mutations Cochlear Americas | $55,529 |
| ANTI-VEGF THERAPY FOR ACUTE THYROID EYE DISEASE (ACTED STUDY) Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | $51,243 |
| A POST-AUTHORIZATION, MULTICENTER, LONGITUDINAL, OBSERVATIONAL SAFETY REGISTRY STUDY FOR PATIENTS TREATED WITH VORETIGENE NEPARVOVEC Spark Therapeutics, Inc. · NCT03597399 | $44,252 |
Amounts are as the paying companies reported them to CMS; Open Payments data retrieved 13 Sep 2026. Full record on CMS Open Payments.
How to read this page
- Everything here is published by CMS on Care Compare. We arrange it and explain it; the star ratings and the better / worse verdicts are CMS's, not ours.
- “No different” is the most common result on most measures at most hospitals. CMS only calls a result better or worse when the difference from the national rate is statistically clear.
- Death, complication and readmission rates are adjusted by CMS for how sick patients were, so hospitals that treat sicker patients can be compared fairly.
- Infection results are ratios: 1.0 means as many infections as CMS predicted for a hospital like this one, below 1.0 is fewer.
- These are hospital-wide results. They do not rate an individual doctor, nurse or department, and they are not medical advice.
CMS Care Compare data retrieved 4 Oct 2026, refreshed weekly. Where this data comes from and how we handle it · Report an error
Common questions about Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Is Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary a good hospital?
CMS does not publish an overall star rating for Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. On all 5 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it is no different from the national rate. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.
Would patients recommend Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary?
83% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 351 completed HCAHPS surveys.
How long is the wait in the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary emergency room?
Emergency patients spend a median of 2 h 54 min in its emergency department before leaving (US median 2 h 42 min). Among US emergency departments with medium patient volume, like this one, the median is 2 h 45 min. 3% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.
Does Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary receive money from drug and device companies?
Drug and device makers reported $2.1M in payments to Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary for 2025, under the federal Open Payments program. A payment on its own does not show a conflict of interest.