This year’s expanded report debuts new ratings for seven “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, said in a news release.
With new ratings for myocardial infarction, stroke, hip fracture, and back surgery (spinal fusion), the report now ranks 17 procedures and conditions.
Also new to the 2021 report, which marks the 32nd edition, is a look at racial disparities in health care and the inclusion of health equity measures alongside the hospital rankings.
The new measures examine whether the patients each hospital has treated reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the surrounding community, among other aspects of health equity.
“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,” Mr. Harder said.
“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,” Mr. Harder added.
Mayo and Cleveland Clinic remain tops
Following the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic once again takes the No. 2 spot in the magazine’s latest annual honor roll of best hospitals, which highlights hospitals that deliver exceptional treatment across multiple areas of care.
UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, holds the No. 3 spot in 2021. In 2020, UCLA Medical Center and New York–Presbyterian Hospital–Columbia and Cornell, New York, sat in a tie at No. 4.
In 2021, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, which held the No. 3 spot in 2020, drops to No. 4, while Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston takes the No. 5 spot, up from No. 6 in 2020.
Rounding out the top 10 (in order) are Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles; New York–Presbyterian Hospital–Columbia and Cornell, New York; NYU Langone Hospitals, New York; UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco; and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago.
2021-2022 Best Hospitals honor roll
1. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
2. Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland
3. UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
4. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
5. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
6. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, San Francisco
7. New York–Presbyterian Hospital–Columbia and Cornell, New York
8. NYU Langone Hospitals, New York
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, Phoenix
16. Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston
17. (tie) Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis
17. (tie) Mount Sinai Hospital, New York Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
19. Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
20. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn.
For the 2021-2022 rankings and ratings, the magazine compared more than 4,750 hospitals nationwide in 15 specialties and 17 procedures and conditions.
At least 2,039 hospitals received a high performance rating in at least one of the services rated; 11 hospitals received high performance in all 17. A total of 175 hospitals were nationally ranked in at least one specialty
For specialty rankings, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center continues to hold the No. 1 spot in cancer care, the Hospital for Special Surgery continues to be No. 1 in orthopedics, and the Cleveland Clinic continues to be No. 1 in cardiology and heart surgery.