U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday released its "Best Children's Hospital" rankings, which names the 10 best children's hospitals in the country as well as the top 50 children's hospitals in 10 specialties.
Methodology
For the 12th annual "Best Children's Hospital" rankings, researchers surveyed 189 facilities across 10 specialties. According to U.S. News, 118 facilities submitted sufficient data to be considered for ranking in at least one of the 10 specialties, including:
- Cancer;
- Cardiology & heart surgery;
- Diabetes & endocrinology;
- Gastroenterology & GI surgery;
- Neonatology;
- Nephrology;
- Neurology & neurosurgery;
- Orthopedics;
- Pulmonology; and
- Urology.
The publication based hospital scores on:
- Outcomes data—including survival, infections, and surgical complications—which accounted for 33.3% of the overall score for each hospital in every specialty except cardiology/heart surgery, for which it accounted for 38.3%;
- Structure, meaning resources related directly to patient care, such as specialized clinics and nurse-patient ratios, which accounted for 33% of the overall score for each hospital in every specialty;
- The hospital's reputation among experts—based on a survey of pediatric specialists and subspecialists—which accounted for 15% of the overall score for hospitals in every specialty but cardiology/heart surgery, for which reputation accounted for 8.5% of the score;
- The hospital's adherence to best practices within specialties, which accounted for 9.2% of the score for hospitals in every specialty except cardiology, for which it accounted for 9.9%; and
- Infection prevention, which accounted for 9.2% of the score for hospitals in every specialty except cardiology, for which it accounted for 9.9%.
According to U.S. News, the sum of the categories' weights is not 100% because of rounding.
Overall, U.S. News recognized 86 hospitals in this year's rankings.
The Best Children's Hospitals
U.S. News named 10 hospitals to the Honor Roll, which denotes "pediatric centers that deliver exceptionally high-quality care across multiple specialties."
80 of the 86 honorees are Advisory Board members
The Honor Roll includes:
- Boston Children's Hospital (Boston);
- Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati);
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Philadelphia);
- Texas Children's Hospital (Houston);
- Children's National Medical Center (Washington, D.C.);
- Children's Hospital Los Angeles (Los Angeles);
- Nationwide Children's Hospital (Columbus, Ohio);
- Johns Hopkins Children's Center (Baltimore);
- Children's Hospital Colorado (Aurora, Colorado); and
- Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago (Chicago).
This is the fifth consecutive year that Boston Children's has taken the top spot on the honor roll.
On the 10 specialty rankings, the No. 1 children's hospital for:
- Pediatric cancer and for gastroenterology/GI surgery is Cincinnati Children's Hospital;
- Pediatric cardiology/heart surgery and for pulmonology is Texas Children's Hospital;
- Pediatric diabetes/endocrinology and for urology is Children's Hospital of Philadelphia;
- Pediatric neonatology is Children's National Medical; and
- Pediatric nephrology, for neurology/neurosurgery, and for orthopedics is Boston Children's Hospital (Gartsbeyn, Boston.com, 6/26; U.S. News release, 6/26; "Best Children's Hospitals," U.S. News & World Report, 6/26; Harder/Comarow, U.S. News & World Report, 6/26; U.S. News & World Report methodology, accessed 6/26).
Just updated: Learn how US News—and 4 other rankings programs—actually work
Download our one page sheets for summaries on the methodology and metric categories used in seven hospital quality rating programs:
- US News and World Report Best Children's Hospital Rankings
- CMS Overall Star Ratings
- CMS HCAHPS Patient Experience Star Rating
- Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Awards
- Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Awards
- Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Grade
- Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals