The Best Hospitals in the U.S for 2017-18
Do you work at one of the best hospitals in the country? Would you like to? The latest hospital rankings may help you find your place.
On August 8, 2017, U.S. News & World Report released their 28th annual list of Best Hospitals rankings, based on patient outcome data and other factors.
The rankings and ratings compare more than 4,500 medical centers nationwide in 25 specialties, procedures and conditions.
The Mayo Clinic claimed the No. 1 spot on the Best Hospitals Honor Roll, for the second year in a row. The Cleveland Clinic ranked No. 2, followed by Johns Hopkins Hospital at No. 3, up from No. 4 last year.
The Honor Roll is a distinction awarded to 20 hospitals that deliver exceptional treatment across multiple areas of care.
This year a total of 152 hospitals were nationally ranked in at least one specialty. For patients seeking care close to home, U.S. News also recognized 535 Best Regional Hospitals, ranking them by state and metro area based on their performance in both complex and common care.
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The 2017-18 Best Hospitals Honor Roll
- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
- Cleveland Clinic
- Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
- UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco
- University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers, Ann Arbor
- Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
- New York-Presbyterian Hospital, N.Y.
- Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital, Stanford, Calif.
- Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
- Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis
- Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
- UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, Pittsburgh
- University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora
- Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Philadelphia
- Duke University Hospital, Durham, N.C.
- Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
- NYU Langone Medical Center, New York
- Mayo Clinic Phoenix
Top Five Best Hospitals in Selected Specialties
Top 5: Cardiology & Heart Surgery
- Cleveland Clinic
- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
- New York-Presbyterian Hospital, N.Y.
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
Top 5: Cancer
- University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New Yor
- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
- Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center, Boston
- Seattle Cancer Care Alliance/University of Washington Medical Center
Top 5: Orthopedics
- Hospital for Special Surgery, New York
- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
- Cleveland Clinic
- Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Philadelphia
- Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
How the Hospital Rankings are Determined
The U.S. News methodologies in most areas of care are based largely on objective measures such as risk-adjusted survival and readmission rates, volume, patient experience, patient safety and quality of nursing, among other care-related indicators.
Methodology updates for this year’s Best Hospitals list included:
More data: Five years of Medicare data – covering more than 60 million hospitalizations – were used to calculate Procedures and Conditions ratings, as opposed to three years used in previous ratings.
Best Regional Hospitals: Procedures and conditions ratings, which rely entirely on objective data, were emphasized more than specialty rankings in determining state and metro rankings.
Socioeconomic status and transfer patients: Measurements were improved to avoid penalizing hospitals for treating low-income patients or for accepting high-risk cases transferred from other hospitals.
Volume: Refinements were made in how patient volume was measured, to improve comparability among hospitals.
"Covering nearly every hospital in every U.S. community, U.S. News offers deep, rich data that patients can use to help them make informed decisions about where to receive surgical or medical care," said Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis at U.S. News.
The rankings data focuses primarily on patient outcomes, because "outcomes matter most,” Harder explained.
Best Hospitals is part of U.S. News' patient portal, designed to help patients make informed decisions about where to receive care. The rankings are produced by U.S. News with RTI International, a leading research organization.
For the full 2017-18 hospital rankings, visit the Best Hospitals section on the U.S. News site.
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