U.S. News & World Report releases the 2021-22 Best Hospitals rankings and ratings. In the latest edition, seven new Procedures and Conditions ratings have been added, diversifying the portfolio to 17 services in all.
The new ratings – covering Heart Attack, Stroke, Pneumonia, Diabetes, Kidney Failure, Hip Fracture and Back Surgery (Spinal Fusion) – emphasize the importance of targeted research and care that provides patients and their doctors with data-driven decision support.
For the sixth consecutive year, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. claimed the No. 1 spot on the Best Hospitals Honor Roll. Cleveland Clinic ranked No. 2, followed by UCLA Medical Center at No. 3. The Honor Roll is a distinction awarded to hospitals ranked in the top 20 nationally for delivering exceptional treatment across multiple areas of care, according to a media release from U.S. News & World Report.
“This year’s expanded report from U.S. News includes new ratings for important procedures and conditions to help patients, in consultation with their doctors, narrow down their choice of hospital based on the specific type of care they need.”
— Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis
Health Equity Measures Debut
U.S. News also investigated racial disparities in health care and today debuted health equity measures alongside the hospital rankings. Among other aspects of health equity, the new measures examine whether the patients each hospital has treated reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the surrounding community.
“At roughly four out of five hospitals, we found that the community’s minority residents were underrepresented among patients receiving services such as joint replacement, cancer surgery and common heart procedures. Against this backdrop, however, we found important exceptions – hospitals that provide care to a disproportionate share of their community’s minority residents. These metrics are just a beginning; we aim to expand on our measurement of health equity in the future.”
— Ben Harder
U.S. News released new rankings for 15 medical specialties, which cover Cancer; Cardiology & Heart Surgery; Diabetes & Endocrinology; Ear, Nose & Throat; Gastroenterology & GI Surgery; Geriatrics; Gynecology; Neurology & Neurosurgery; Ophthalmology; Orthopedics; Psychiatry; Pulmonology & Lung Surgery; Rehabilitation; Rheumatology; and Urology. Out of more than 4,750 hospitals that were evaluated, 175 were nationally ranked in at least one specialty, while 531 were ranked among the Best Regional Hospitals in a state or metro area.
In the specialty rankings, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center ranked No. 1 in Cancer, the Cleveland Clinic is No. 1 in Cardiology & Heart Surgery and Hospital for Special Surgery is No. 1 in Orthopedics.
2021-22 Best Hospitals Honor Roll
1. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn
2. Cleveland Clinic
3. UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
4. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
5. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
6. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
7. New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, NY
8. NYU Langone Hospitals, New York, NY
9. UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco
10. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
11. University of Michigan Hospitals-Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor
12. Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital, Palo Alto, Calif
13. Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia
14. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston
15. Mayo Clinic-Phoenix
16. Houston Methodist Hospital
17. Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis (tie)
17. Mount Sinai Hospital, New York (tie)
19. Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
20. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn
Top Five Hospitals in Select Specialties
- Cleveland Clinic
- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
- New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, NY
- NYU Langone Hospitals, New York, NY
- University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York
- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn
- Dana-Farber/Bringham and Women’s Cancer Center, Boston
- Cleveland Clinic
- Hospital for Special Surgery, New York
- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
- NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, New York
- UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
Last year, U.S. News launched the Hospital Heroes project to recognize and profile frontline professionals serving communities hit hard by the pandemic. The project continues this year with One Pandemic Question – a series that looks back on the past year and a half through the eyes of health care professionals discussing their work, lessons learned and the path forward.
Data Not Affected By Pandemic
Data used in the 2021-22 Best Hospitals rankings and ratings come from a period predating the COVID-19 pandemic and were not affected by the pandemic’s impact on hospitals. The U.S. News Best Hospitals methodologies are based largely on objective measures such as risk-adjusted survival and discharge-to-home rates, volume, and quality of nursing, among other care-related indicators. These ratings help patients begin their search for care and should be used in consultation with a medical professional.
The rankings are produced by U.S. News with RTI International, a research organization based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Data experts from U.S. News and RTI will once again speak about their methodologies on a panel at the annual U.S. News Live Healthcare of Tomorrow conference. The conference will be held virtually this fall and include a series of virtual sessions on health equity, mental health, overuse, pediatrics, and U.S. News rankings and metrics. For more updates visit U.S. News Live.
In addition to the website, the rankings will be published in the U.S. News “Best Hospitals 2022” guidebook (ISBN 9781931469975), available for pre-order now from the U.S. News Online Store and for purchase at other bookstores October 5.
For the full rankings and ratings, visit Best Hospitals.
[Source(s): U.S. News & World Report, PR Newswire]
