Various "Best Hospital" Lists - national
Categories
- City-Specific and State-Specific Best Hospital Lists (1)
- Pediatric and Children's Hospitals - Best hospital lists (free) (2)
- Baldrige Award (Hospital / Healthcare) Winners (7)
Primary Listings
Best Cardiac Surgery Hospital Ratings STS – Society of Thoracic Surgeons Editor's Pick
If you’re looking for the Best Cardiac Surgery hospitals, consider these ratings by STS – the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Compare hospital ratings for cardiac surgery in your state. Many hospitals voluntarily report their results, which are posted here for adult coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), valve replacement, congenital heart surgery and lobectomy for lung cancer. Most results cover the time period through December 2021. Most hospitals get two stars for “as expected” performance. Outstanding hospitals get 3 stars; under-performing hospitals get 1 star. Search by state or name of hospital to find the best. Excellent website. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is a not-for-profit organization representing more than 7,600 surgeons and others dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for surgeries of the heart, lungs, esophagus, and other surgical chest procedures.
2023 HealthGrades Bariatric Surgery Awards (selected states)
HealthGrades gave 2023 Bariatric Surgery excellence awards to hospitals in 13 states for top quality in Bariatric surgical procedures; 16 states were studied with 13 states (FL, IA, IL, MD, NV, NJ, NY, PA, TX, VA, WA, WV and WI), having excellent hospitals. CO, OR and RI did not have any top hospitals in this specialty. Inpatient complication rates in 16 states were studied using all-payer 2018-2020 data. Pub. 2023
ACS Meritorious Hospitals for Surgery Outcomes in 2021
New list shows 78 hospitals that achieved “meritorious” outcomes for surgical patient care in 2021. They were selected from over 600 hospitals participating in the ACS (American College of Surgeons) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP®). Most of the hospitals getting the award are in the United States; some are in Canada or Australia. Hospitals are recognized in either (or both) the “All Cases” category, or for “High Risk” cases only. Some hospitals have received this distinction for consecutive years. Scores and types of surgery are not disclosed. However, one can be confident that the ACS did a fair and professional comparison of hospital performance in surgery. Among the criteria were infections and survival rates. Published November 2022.
America’s Best Hospitals list (Medicare) 2023 from HealthGrades
HealthGrades 2023 list of America’s 250 Best Hospitals shows their choice for the top 50 hospitals and 100 best and top 250 hospitals in the US. List is based on clinical quality for Medicare patients over 3 years ending 2021. It shows which hospitals have held clinical excellence in consecutive years over “an extended period of time” (top 1%), and those in the top 2%. The 250 best hospitals (top 5%) were formerly known as receiving the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence. HealthGrades examined complication rates or survival rates for 32 diagnoses (such as heart failure, COPD, pneumonia, stroke, diabetes, pancreatitis, sepsis) or surgical procedures (such as hip or knee replacement, gall bladder removal, back surgery, bowel obstruction, prostatectomy, angioplasty, valve surgery, and heart bypass). Hospitals are listed by state; not all states had hospitals that ranked in the top 5%. Published Jan. 2023.
Baby-Friendly Hospitals (breast-feeding)
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). It encourages and recognizes hospitals and birthing centers to support direct breastfeeding (compared to formula). As of November, the site suggests there are over 600 hospitals in the US & Puerto Rico who met the program criteria. The criteria are based on Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.
Best Cardiovascular Hospital Lists – How Good are They?
How good are the lists of “best cardiovascular hospitals”? Research published in JAMA Cardiology (Journal of the American Medical Association, Cardiology) studied US News & World Report best hospitals list and 2018-2019 rankings for Cardiology and Heart Surgery. For cardiovascular care, the physician researchers indeed found lower 30-day mortality rates (better survival) and higher patient satisfaction at the top cardiac hospitals when compared with nonranked hospitals. Results applied to heart attack (AMI-acute myocardial infarction), heart failure and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG or heart bypass). Researchers did not find lower readmission rates at the top-ranked hospitals. Published December 2018.
Blue Distinction Centers: Cardiac, Cancer, Hip, Knee, Fertility, Maternity, Back, Spine, Bariatric Surgery, Organ Transplants, Gene Therapy, Substance Abuse
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies have designated national Blue Distinction Centers meeting their standards and selection criteria for bariatric weight loss surgery, cancer care, cardiac (heart) care, fertility care, organ transplants (e.g. adult and pediatric bone marrow/stem cell, heart, kidney, liver); lung(adult only) transplants, total knee and hip replacement, maternity care, back spine surgery, Substance Use Treatment and Recovery (new in 2020), cellular immunotherapy, and gene therapy for ocular disorders (inherited blindness). Quality criteria can be found from the home page. In addition to Blue Distinction Centers, the Blue Distinction+ (Plus) designates high quality centers considered to have “more affordable care”. (No further information is available on prices.) Interactive database; updated 2022.
CareChex America’s Top Hospitals for Medical Excellence 2022
CareChex by Quantros lists the 2022 top hospital in each state for Medical Excellence. No methodology is shown at the website. (The 2020 awards were based on data from CMS, from Oct. 2015 to Sept. 2018; HCAHPS patient satisfaction survey scores may or may not be included in the scoring). In addition, five health systems were selected for excellence. CareChex is a division of Quantros, a for-profit software solutions company. The company appears to be a competitor to HealthGrades or Watson Health (Truven).
Healthgrades – Hospital Awards for Patient Safety Excellence, 2022
Healthgrades 2022 awards for patient safety excellence lists top 10% (448) hospitals. These hospitals are distinguished for their patient safety, using 2018 to 2020 Medicare patient information. Hospitals were evaluated on 14 types of preventable patient safety incidents, such as leaving foreign objects behind during surgery, pressure ulcers [bedsores], accidental cuts during medical care; deep blood clots, collapsed lung pneumothorax, postoperative hip fracture, bloodstream infection, deaths after surgical complications, and postop sepsis. Annual study released March 2022 by Healthgrades.
HealthGrades OB-Gyn Awards – 2022
Find 2022 hospital awards for OB-Gyn from HealthGrades. HealthGrades lists its 5-star hospitals (Excellence Awards) in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Includes labor & delivery maternity ratings, gynecologic surgeries (such as hysterectomy) and Ob-Gyn services. HealthGrades used 2018-2020 “all-payer” data from 16 states for the awards in selected states. States include CO, FL, IA, IL, MD, NV, NY, NJ, OR, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA, WI, and WV.
Joint Commission Disease-Specific Care – Certified Hospitals
Joint Commission Disease-Specific Care – Certified Hospitals helps you find hospitals that have achieved Certification or Advanced Certification in any of about 9 programs. Advanced certification in stroke care (Primary Stroke Centers or two other stroke designations) is the most common. Other advanced certification programs are in hip and knee, inpatient diabetes, perinatal services, and ventricular assist devices. Add-on certification is available for palliative care and primary care medical home. Many are listed as having Advanced programs. The Joint Commission is the leading accrediting body for hospitals.
Leapfrog Top Hospitals for 2022 (December 2022)
Leapfrog named 115 hospitals to its 2022 Top Hospitals list, including 12 top children’s hospitals and 13 rural hospitals. Abouat half of the Top Hospital Awards went to teaching hospitals; 32 general hospitals were also on the best hospitals list. Hospitals must have responded to Leapfrog’s Hospital Survey. Leapfrog Group is a large employer-based organization whose mission is to trigger giant leaps forward in the safety, quality and affordability of health care. The measures emphasize patient safety. Published December 2022.
LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Index Ratings of Hospitals and Clinics 2022
Annual LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Index designated 496 U.S. hospitals, clinics and other facilities as Equality Leaders for their policies and practices related to the gay, lesbian, bisexual transgender and queer community. An additional 251 were named as top performers, which apparently is a lower designation than “leader”. The Index had 906 active participants. Criteria include patient non-discrimination (including hospital visitation) and staff training in LGBTQ+ patient-centered care; patient services and support; employee benefits and policies; and patient/community engagement; and “responsible citizenship”. A list of healthcare facility Equality Leaders is available by state. Prepared by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 2022.
Lown Institute Hospital Rankings by Quality Outcomes, 2023
Lown Institute hospital rankings for 2023. The hospital quality outcomes list ranks more than 3,600 hospitals. It combines clinical outcomes, patient safety and patient satisfaction. This is one of the easiest-to-use “best hospital” lists. The Outcomes index relies on Medicare inpatient data from 2019 to 2021 as well as some patient satisfaction and other data from 2022. Additional rankings are at this site: Equity and Value. An overall A-B-C-D rating is given to each hospital; it combines all Quality, Equity and Value scores into a “Social Responsibility” rating. Published 2023. The Lown Institute is a Washington, DC-based think tank, and a more recent addition to the hospital rankings business.
Merative (Watson Health) 100 Top Hospitals – 2022 National Winners
Merative (formerly Watson Health) lists names of top 100 hospitals for 2022. The ratings used categories according to size and teaching status using Medicare data primarily from 2019 and 2020, other publicly reported (at HospitalCompare) patient satisfaction scores (HCAHPS) and results such as mortality rates, readmissions, ER times and spending. While no data are shown for individual hospital performance, Watson Health makes a case that as a group these hospitals outperform their peers in quality and efficiency (lower expenses). Free report shows winners’ names only; some winners received the Everest Award for also improving at the fastest rate over a five-year period. Methodology examines survival, complications and readmissions, patient experience; efficiency and profitability from 2,650 eligible hospitals. Published July 2022 by Merative, the new name for the former IBM Watson Health. Watson Health was formerly Truven Health Analytics.
Merative (Watson Health) Top 15 Health Systems (2022)
Merative (formerly Watson Health) named 15 Top U.S. Health Systems for outcomes, efficiency, and patient satisfaction from their study. The study selected 15 top systems from 349 systems studied. Winning systems (5 large, 5 medium and 5 small systems) averaged 6.3 hospitals. (Notably, the “nonwinning” systems averaged 9.3 hospitals per system.) A minimum of two hospitals was required. The study examined Medicare patients (MEDPAR data), CMS HospitalCompare data, Medicare cost reports, HCAHPS patient satisfaction scores and other data mostly from 2019 and 2020. Published July 2022 by Merative, the new name for the former IBM Watson Health. Watson Health was formerly Truven Health Analytics.
Money Magazine Best Hospitals 2022
Money (magazine) teamed up with The Leapfrog Group to create a new Best Hospitals ranking. Money claims this list of hospitals are those that are best for your money. It is their first attempt at a best hospitals ranking. Only hospitals who completed Leapfrog’s 2021 survey were eligible for consideration. Unfortunately, many hospitals do not participate in Leapfrog’s annual patient safety survey. Published July 2022.
Newsweek: Best Maternity Hospitals 2023
Newsweek magazine selected the best maternity care hospitals in the US for 2023. Best Maternity Care Hospitals are given 5 ribbons (159 hospitals) or 3 ribbons (225 hospitals). No details, volumes, or actual scores; just a list. A major component of selecting best maternity hospitals was based on a survey in Feb. – March 2023. Consumers might be surprised to find that only 46 states and DC had a “best hospital” for maternity care. List published 2023.
Newsweek: The World’s Best Hospitals 2023
Newsweek ranks the top 250 best hospitals in the world for 2023. Newsweek calls this list the “World’s Best Hospitals”. The top 4 are in the US (in order): Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN), Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Toronto General in Canada and UCLA Health – Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Los Angeles are also within the top 10 world hospitals. Altogether, there were about 45 US hospitals in the top 250. The rankings are based on recommendations from medical professionals (weighted 54%), results from patient satisfaction surveys (14.5%), hospital quality measures (29%) and a new category “PROMs” implementation (2.5%). PROMs are Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures, a new way to measure how their condition improved from the patient’s perspective.
For the United States, quality measures mirror the CMS methodology for hospital Star Ratings. Most measures are from 2019 or 2020 data (as of October 2022 Star Ratings). The Patient Satisfaction survey numbers are from 2021. Published March 2023.
NRC Top Hospitals for Consumer Loyalty – 2022
NRC Health lists 100 winners of its 2022 Consumer Loyalty Awards for most often mentioned hospitals by consumers in selected markets. Ten hospitals are named as “Best in Class”. Market survey was conducted between April 2021 and March 2022, during the 2nd year of the pandemic. NRC Health is formerly the National Research Corporation. Announced August 2022.
Parkinson’s – Center of Excellence Network (Parkinson’s Foundation)
Parkinson’s Center of Excellence Network is a list of about 51 centers of excellence for Parkinson Disease. About 37 are in the US. Other international locations include Australia, Canada, England United Kingdom, Germany, Israel, Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan. Each must meet the criteria set by the Parkinson’s Foundation for research, comprehensive care delivery, professional education and patient outreach services.
Premier 2022 Awards for excellence and high-value healthcare
Premier announced seven QUEST-participating hospitals received the 2022 QUEST® Awards for High Value health care. An additional 8 hospitals were named as finalists. Announced June 2022.
Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Awards, 2022 – hospital client awards
Press Ganey “Human Experience Guardian of Excellence Awards®” were awarded to client hospitals who performed in the top 5% in at least one of four categories. The 4 categories were in Patient Experience, Employee Engagement, Physician Engagement or Clinical Quality. One year of performance 2021-2022 was evaluated. Announced February 2023.
Press Ganey Pinnacle of Excellence Awards – 2022 Client Recognition
The Human Experience Pinnacle of Excellence 2022 Awards from Press Ganey Associates, Inc are given to selected top client hospitals. The hospitals must have maintained highest performance in Press Ganey patient experience / satisfaction, or employee or physician engagement, or clinical quality for at least 3 years in a row. Announced in January 2023.
Top Critical Access, Rural and Community Hospitals in US, 2022
View the 2022 list of top critical access hospitals (CAHs), rural and community hospitals in the U.S. Compiled by iVantage Health Analytics, a Chartis Group company, for 2022. Methodology is not readily identified.
USNews.com America’s Best Hospitals 2023-2024: Honor Roll (22)
USNews.com identifies 22 America’s Best Hospitals on the 2023-2024 Honor Roll. These top hospitals include Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN), Houston Methodist (TX), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles), four hospitals in New York), and 15 other leading medical institutions. These best hospitals ranked favorably in multiple specialties. Over 4,500 hospitals nationwide were evaluated. On a regional level, hundreds more hospitals were ranked as a best hospital near me. Check the details to see specifics for a certain illness, since no single hospital was ranked (by US News) as best in everything. According to the website, “none were rated high performing in all 21 procedures and conditions.” Methodology report shows how the hospitals scored. Outcomes (such as Survival/mortality rate) for Medicare patients and Structure (such as nurse staffing and ICU specialists) are two of the factors used in the rankings for most of the specialties. Reputation assessed by other physicians (“expert opinion”) was the only component used for Ophthalmology, Psychiatry and Rheumatology. 2023-2024 ratings use Medicare data from calendar years 2019-2021, and HCAHPS (patient satisfaction) scores from 2020-21. Published August 1, 2023.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2022-2023: Diabetes Rankings
Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) and Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston) lead the 2022-2023 US News & World Report ranking of 50 best hospitals for Diabetes and Endocrine Disorders. Uses Medicare data from 2018 to 2020 (required minimum number of 234 Medicare patients in this specialty, over a 3-year period).
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2022-2023: Geriatrics Rankings
Mount Sinai (New York), and Cleveland Clinic, lead the 2022-2023 rankings of top 50 hospitals for geriatric care, from US News & World Report. List shows hospitals that do well at treating seniors ages 75 and up (at least 2,934 cases over 3 years) combining multiple specialties. Many of the 50 have Alzheimer’s Centers. Medicare survival (30-day mortality data) from 2018-2020.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2022-2023: Maternity Care
US News & World Report’s list of nearly 300 “High Performing” hospitals for Maternity Care. Hospitals reported their results for 2020 deliveries. Strong weight was given to C-Section rates, unexpected newborn complications and breast feeding rates. Overall, 8 factors were measured and compared. The 2022-2023 list of Best Hospitals for Maternity was published December 2022.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2022-2023: Neurology and Neurosurgery
US News & World Report’s list of top 50 hospitals for Neurology care and Neurosurgery. NYU Langone Hospitals (New York) and UCSF Medical Center (San Francisco) lead the 2022-2023 list. Stroke, carotid artery stent, craniotomy and multiple sclerosis included in this category. Minimum number of Medicare cases = 227 over 3 years, 2018-2020. Neuro rankings published July 2022.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2022-2023: Ophthalmology (Eye)
Who are the best hospitals for eye surgery (ophthalmology) in 2022-2023, according to usnews.com? Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at University of Miami Hospital, and Wills Eye Hospital at Thomas Jefferson in Philadelphia top US News & World Report’s 202 2-23 list of best hospital Ophthalmology programs. Twelve hospitals are listed for eye surgery, ranked using reputation scores only from 2020-2022 physician surveys. Additional “high performing” hospitals are listed. No clinical outcomes data were examined (except what individual physicians responding to the survey may have considered on their own).
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2022-2023: Orthopedics Rankings
Find the best hospitals in orthopedic rankings for 2022-2023, according to usnews.com. US News & World Report’s list of top 50 hospitals for hip and knee replacements and other orthopedic surgery shows Hospital for Special Surgery (New York) and Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.) as the best hospitals in the US. Uses Medicare data, volume, nurse staffing, discharge to home, reputation scores, survival rates, and more. Minimum number of Medicare cases: 283 over three years (2018-2020). Published July 2022.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2022-2023: Psychiatry Rankings
McLean Hospital (Belmont, MA) and Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore) lead the 2022-2023 best psychiatry hospitals list. Reputation scores only, from 2020, 2021 and 2022, were used by US News & World Report to select 11 best hospitals. Additional psych hospitals are listed as high-performing. Psychiatric hospital rankings reflect physician opinions about who provides the best care for patients with the most challenging psychiatric conditions. Updated July 2022.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2022-2023: Pulmonology (Respiratory) and Lung Surgery
Top 50 hospitals in 2022-2023 for respiratory problems. Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) and National Jewish Health, Denver-University of Colorado Hospital lead the list. Hospitals were required to treat at least 1,325 Medicare patients in Pulmonology and Lung Transplant over a 3-year period 2018 to 2020, in order to be ranked. Includes Lung transplant, used Medicare data (including survival) expert opinion reputation, nurse and ICU staffing, and other factors. For reference: small hospitals routinely treat pneumonia and COPD patients, and a tertiary medical center may not be necessary for effective treatment. This list by US News & World Report gives strong weight to survival, services available, reputation and other factors.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2022-2023: Rehabilitation Rankings
Find best rehab hospitals in the 2022-2023 rankings by usnews.com. Full ranking and scoring is now used, instead of Reputation scores only. The 50-ranked hospitals were led by Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago-RIC) and TIRR Memorial Hermann (Houston). You may wish to check other factors such as CARF Accreditation (put CARF in the search box at Consumer Health Ratings). While CARF accreditation is considered in the USnews rankings, 7 “best hospitals” are not CARF-accredited, including the #1 ranked rehab hospital Shirley Ryan Ability Lab. Minimum number of Medicare cases over a 3-year period (2018-2020) was 50.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2022-2023: Rheumatology Rankings
USnews.com lists eleven best hospitals in the rheumatology rankings for 2022-2023. Hospitals were identified by using reputation scores only, from 2020, 2021 and 2022 surveys of rheumatology specialists in this US News & World Report list. Top of the list: Johns Hopkins (Baltimore) and Cleveland Clinic. Updated July 2022.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2022-2023: Urology Rankings
Find the best hospitals for urology, according to the rankings by usnews.com for 2022-2023. Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) and Cleveland Clinic lead the Urology list of 50 best hospitals from US News & World Report. List uses Medicare data from 2018-2020, reputation and other factors; includes cases of prostatectomy, TURP, kidney stones and other urologic surgery. Minimum 69 Medicare cases over 3 years.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2023-2024: Cancer Rankings
Best Hospitals Cancer rankings for 2023-2024 from usnews.com. US News & World Report named University of Texas MD Anderson (Houston, TX), Memorial Sloan-Kettering (New York), and Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) as their 2023-2024 leaders of the top 50 hospitals for cancer care in the US. (Same as last year.) Scoring includes survival (30-day mortality), professional reputation, designation from the National Cancer Institute and other factors. Minimum number of Medicare cases was 187 (over 3 years, 2019-2021) and 36 for surgery.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2023-2024: Cardiology and Heart Surgery
Who are the best hospitals in cardiology and heart surgery for 2023-2024, according to the usnews.com rankings? The top of the Cardiac specialty list are Cleveland Clinic (Ohio), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles) and Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN). Top 50 hospitals ranked. See if there is one in your state. Rankings include survival ratings using Medicare data from 2019 to 2021. Hospitals ranked higher if they participated in public transparency reporting by the medical professional societies. Aortic valve and TAVR surgery are including in the scores and ratings process. Minimum volume of 1,725 Medicare cases over 3 years (2019-2021) and 800 surgeries. Updated August 2023.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2023-2024: Ear, nose, and throat
US News rankings list of best hospitals for 2023-2024 in ear, nose and throat, uses 3 years of Medicare data (3 years 2019-2021, with minimum numbers that must be met), to select the top 50 best hospitals for ENT. Top of the list: Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospitals (California), University of Texas MD Anderson (Houston), and UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles). Updated August 2023.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2023-2024: Gastroenterology & GI Surgery
Find the best hospitals in gastroenterology and GI Surgery for 2023-2024 from usnews.com. Fifty hospitals are ranked, using Medicare data 2019-2021, survival rates (30-day mortality scores), volume, reputation and other factors. Mayo Clinic once again leads the 2023-24 list; Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles is again ranked number 2. GI problems, inpatient Gall bladder cases, & bowel surgery are included in this best hospitals category. Minimum 3-year volume of 429 inpatient Medicare cases, of which 115 need to be GI Surgery patients. Updated August 2023.
usnews.com Best Hospitals 2023-2024: Obstetrics & Gynecology Rankings
Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston) which received a “perfect score”, Johns Hopkins (Baltimore) and Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) top the list of 2023-2024 best hospitals for Obstetrics & Gynecology from US News & World Report. It should be noted that this list is mostly a ranking for best Gynecology hospitals. The rankings use data Medicare data from 2019 to 2021. Relative survival rates are included. In addition, a transparency measure rewards hospitals for voluntarily reporting maternity care volume, outcomes, and some program data on the annual U.S. News Maternity Care survey. Maternity data is limited. Minimum 200 Medicare gynecology inpatients over 3 years.
usnews.com High Performing and Best Hospitals for TAVR
US News and World Report’s lists hundreds (if not thousands) of hospitals that are high performing (vs. average, or below average) in performing TAVR. Compare hospital ratings for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). Last checked July 2022.
usnews.com High Performing Hospitals for Kidney Failure
US News and World Report’s discontinued its best hospital list for nephrology (kidney disease) in the 2021-2022 rankings. Instead, it lists hundreds (if not thousands) of hospitals that are high performing (vs. average, or below average) in treating kidney failure. Last checked July 2022.
Watson Health 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals – 2022
Watson Health (formerly Truven Health Analytics) 2021 selection of the top 50 cardiovascular hospitals. Top selected hospitals with significant heart care programs are listed in categories: teaching hospitals with cardiovascular residencies, teaching hospitals without such residencies, and community hospitals. List only, organized alphabetically in each category. Study primarily used Medicare data from 2019 and 2020. Data period for some measures were based on the federal fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2020. Consequently, about 7 months of the Covid-19 pandemic period were included in half of the measures. The study examined both clinical outcomes (e.g. survival or mortality, complications, readmissions) and efficiency measures. In addition, pre-pandemic hospital patient experience scores from 2019 were added this year. Released November 2021 by IBM Watson Health.
usnews.com America’s Best Hospitals Methodology 2023-2024 Editor's Pick
Delve into the methodology used in the 2023-2024 Best Hospitals rankings by US News & World Report. Medicare claims data were used from calendar years 2019-2021, patient satisfaction surveys from 2021-2022, and surveys of physicians [3 years 2021, 2022 and 2023] are used. Hospitals were screened by having advanced services or teaching programs, and having certain number of Medicare cases. See the full criteria and methods used in this study. Pediatric hospitals methodology also available.
Other Helpful Listings
Accredited Heart Care Centers – American College of Cardiology
List of Accredited heart care centers from the nonprofit American College of Cardiology (ACC). The ACC accreditation program includes the Chest Pain Centers program previously within the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care and the Society of Chest Pain Centers (both known as SCPC.) Some accredited centers have PCI (percutaneous cardiac intervention). Must meet emergency department requirements and standards for timely diagnosis and treatment. List is interactive by state or type of accreditation, including atrial fibrillation (A Fib), cardiac cath, chest pain center, heart failure, heartCARE center, transcatheter valve (TAVR) certification, and more. Shows location of each hospital. Consumers might be surprised to learn that their favorite hospital’s heart program is not accredited or certified.
Bariatric Surgery Centers of Excellence – Locate a Center & Bariatric Surgeon
Locate a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence or bariatric Surgeon of Excellence. Surgical Review Corporation (SRC) has designated 64 hospitals as Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Centers of Excellence. Minimum volume is 80 cases per year for a Center of Excellence. For a Bariatric Surgeon of Excellence, minimum volume is 50 cases per year, and 125 cases in a lifetime. SRC is a non-profit patient safety organization that develops and administers health care accreditation programs. In addition weight loss surgery, it promotes high standards for other types of surgery. List of centers by state; includes US, UK, Canada, Mexico and about 20 other countries.
Cancer Centers Designated by National Cancer Institute (NCI) Editor's Pick
Find a Cancer Center. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has designated Cancer Centers, and Comprehensive Centers. There are 73 total in 37 states and DC. (Not all states have one.) Search by state, region or name. NCI-designated cancer centers display scientific excellence and are research-oriented. The National Cancer Institute is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Directory of America’s Hospitals: State-by-State Hospital Index
Directory of hospitals in America is alphabetical; or search state-by-state. Comprehensive hospital index of over 6000 hospitals prepared jointly by the American Hospital Association and US News & World Report. Search by location. Descriptive information, and links to hospitals’ websites. Includes Guam, Puerto Rico. Well-maintained site. However, we removed the Editor’s Pick two years ago, when we discovered a Florida hospital marked as “high performing” for knee replacement, only to find “worse than average” survival rating for knee replacement patients. Read carefully and look at the details. Even a “high-performing” hospital in one specialty might have significantly worse readmission rates, or worse in racial disparities for that same specialty.
Healthgrades – Hospital Awards for Outstanding Patient Experience, 2022
List of 399 hospitals that achieved the 2022 Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award™, representing the top 15% of hospitals nationally. Data from January 2022 patient satisfaction survey responses reflect discharges from July 2020 to March 2021: Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. For the first time, the period covered includes the Covid pandemic. Published June 2022.
Hospital Compare – 30-day Death Rates, Heart Attack, Heart Failure & CABG Editor's Pick
Find 30-day death rates for cardiac hospitalizations: heart failure, heart attack and CABG patients. Hospital Compare, the federal government site from CMS, shows whether hospitals meet expected 30-day survival rates for heart attack and heart failure Medicare cases. National death rates were 12.4% for heart attack, 11.3% for heart failure and 2.9% for CABG (heart bypass) surgery patients. Compare hospitals in your area. The report identifies if your hospital is significantly better or worse than the national value. Dates of data can be found under the Overall Star Rating: “Learn how Medicare calculates this rating” (get detail). The data period for these measures was a 3-year period ending 6/30/2021. Updated July 2022.
Hospital Compare – 30-day Death Rates, Pneumonia Patients Editor's Pick
Find 30-death rates for each hospital’s pneumonia patients at Hospital Compare. Federal government site from CMS shows whether hospitals met expected 30-day survival rates for Medicare pneumonia patients. The national Risk-Average adjusted death rates (mortality rates) were not reported nationally this year. Find pneumonia mortality ratings under Complications and Deaths measures. Results were updated October 2022.
Hospital Compare – 30-day Death Rates, Stroke Patients Editor's Pick
Find 30-day death rates for patients with stroke, at Hospital Compare. Select the Complications and Deaths tab after you’ve selected your hospitals. Federal government site from CMS shows whether hospitals met expected 30-day survival rates for Medicare stroke patients. The national Risk-Adjusted death rate (mortality rate) was 13.6% for stroke in the latest reporting period 3 years ending June 2021. Updated 2022. Can also find percent of stroke patients in the emergency department who received a brain scan within 45 minutes of arrival. Listed under “Timely and Effective Care”.
Hospital Compare 30-day Death Rates, COPD Patients Editor's Pick
Find 30-day death rates for COPD patients at Hospital Compare. Select the Complications and Deaths tab after you’ve chosen the hospitals you want to compare. Federal government site from CMS shows whether hospitals met expected 30-day survival rates for Medicare COPD patients. The latest reported national Risk-Adjusted death rate (mortality rate) was 8.4% for COPD (3 year period ending 6-30-2021). Updated annually and each July. Updated 2022.
How Good are Best Hospital Ratings for Cancer Surgery?
How good are the best hospital ratings for cancer surgery? A study in Archives of Surgery (May 2011) evaluated whether “best hospitals,” as defined by the US News & World Report or HealthGrades, have lower mortality rates than all other American hospitals for cancer surgery. Researchers specifically looked at pancreatectomy, esophagectomy and colectomy. Results were mixed. Researcher used Medicare 2005-2006 data. Read more. Full article is available.
How Good are the Hospital Report Card Ratings and Rankings? HANYS Editor's Pick
How good are the hospital report card ratings and rankings in 2019? HANYS found none of the main twelve types of reports (from nine organizations) for New York hospitals merited five stars. Just one – NY state department of health Clinical Reports – received four stars. Five others, including CMS Hospital Compare, the Joint Commission, and Vizient Quality Leadership Awards got 3 stars. See the ratings of the raters for Leapfrog, Healthgrades, IBM Watson Health, US News and World Report and Newsweek best hospitals lists evaluations. HANYS is the Healthcare Association of New York State. Except for the NY state dept. of health reports, the others are applicable to most hospitals in the United States. Published November 2019.
How Good are US News & World Report Best Hospital Rankings? (2017) Editor's Pick
How good are best hospital rankings? Here’s a recent 2017 caveat to using the US News’ Best Hospitals list. Authors looked at 5 specialties: cancer, cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology and orthopedics. They concluded that a hospital’s U.S. News score and relative ranking in the Best Hospital Rankings may be disproportionately influenced by its reputation. Article by Cua, Moffatt-Bruce and White, published in the American Journal of Medical Quality Feb. 1, 2017; link to abstract
Leapfrog Top Ambulatory Surgery Centers for 2022 (Dec. 2022)
Leapfrog named 12 ambulatory surgery centers to its 2022 Top Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC) list. The outpatient surgery centers must have responded to Leapfrog’s Ambulatory Surgery Center Survey. The quality standards address staffing, hand hygiene, infection rates, practices for safer surgery, and error prevention. They emphasize patient safety. Leapfrog Group is a large employer-based organization whose mission is to trigger giant leaps forward in the safety, quality and affordability of health care. Published December 2022.
Magnet Hospitals – Nursing Care Recognition
Magnet Recognition Program® was developed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association, to recognize hospitals and heath care organizations that provide nursing excellence. As of April 2022, there were 580 US Magnet hospitals or international: Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Taiwan, Japan, England/UK, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, UAE. Of the US hospitals, less than 9% were Magnet hospitals as of May 2021, according to the website. Easiest to view on a map. Can also download the complete list in Excel format.
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