In a recent survey of 285 hospital and health system leaders, Kaiser Permanente was named the best at "delivering high quality at sustainable costs, while Mayo Clinic led the pack as a "model for innovation."

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Survey details

For the survey, Reaction Data, a health care-specific research platform, polled hospital and health system C-suite executives and department heads to identify leading organizations for innovation, thought leadership, and quality of care. The goal was to look at 2017 brand recognition and reputation among the top hospitals and health systems in the country.

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Survey findings

Overall, the survey found the top five health systems in 2017 across the three surveyed dimensions of innovation, thought leadership, and quality of care were:

1. Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, California);
2. Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota);
3. Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, Ohio);
4. Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City); and
5. Geisinger Health System (Danville, Pennsylvania).

However, the order changed slightly when each of those three factors are looked at individually. For instance, respondents were asked, "What health care system comes to mind as a model for innovation?" They named:

1. Mayo Clinic;
2. Kaiser Permanente;
3. Cleveland Clinic
4. Geisinger Health System; and
5. Intermountain Healthcare

Respondents also were asked, "What health care system comes to mind as a model for delivering high quality at sustainable costs?" They named:

1. Kaiser Permanente;
2. Mayo Clinic;
3. Cleveland Clinic;
4. Geisinger Health; and
5. HCA (Nashville, Tennessee).

When asked about health care systems that "come to mind as a thought leader on topics related to health care transformation," respondents named:

1. Mayo Clinic;
2. Cleveland Clinic;
3. Kaiser Permanente;
4. Intermountain Healthcare; and
5. Geisinger Health (Kim Cohen, Becker's Health IT & CIO Review, 3/2; Reaction Data report, accessed 3/2).

Get the cheat sheets: How hospital quality ratings programs work

Download our one page sheets for summaries on the methodology and metric categories used in five hospital quality rating programs:

• US News and World Report Best Hospital Rankings
• CMS Star Ratings
• Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Grade
• Truven Analytics’ Top 15 Health Systems
• Truven Analytics’ Top 100 Hospitals

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