Three Minnesota hospitals were “nationally ranked” and about a dozen others were called out for their “strong performance” on U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of the nation’s top hospitals.
And for the first time, Rochester-based Mayo Clinic took top honors.
The 25th edition of U.S. News' “Best Hospital” list was released Tuesday and complete results are available online. The methodology was tweaked this year, largely to give more weight to patient safety and less of an emphasis on “hospital reputation.” In fact, patient safety metrics now account for 10 percent of each hospital's overall score, in most specialties—twice as much as in past years.
Just 17 hospitals nationwide made the cut for this year’s prestigious “Honor Roll,” which includes hospitals that rank at or near the top in six or more of the 16 specialties measured.
Mayo Is No. 1
Mayo Clinic, which has also ranked highly in past years, topped the Honor Roll for the first time. It was followed by Massachusetts General Hospital and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Mayo, a 1,132-bed operation, had 62,400 admissions in the most recent year reported, according to U.S. News. It performed 50,918 annual inpatient and 21,035 outpatient surgeries and saw 79,542 emergency-room visits. Mayo was the only Minnesota hospital to make the Honor Roll, and it was “nationally ranked” in 15 of the 16 different specialties included in the report.
In fact, it ranked first in the following specialties: diabetes and endocrinology; ear, nose, and throat; gastroenterology and G.I. surgery; geriatrics; gynecology; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; and pulmonology.
It ranked second in the nation for cardiology and heart surgery; orthopedics; and urology. And it took third place in the cancer category.
“We have a deep commitment to delivering high-value health care that best meets patients' needs,” Mayo President and CEO John Noseworthy said in a statement. “We owe our success to truly dedicated staff that provide a seamless patient experience and the care that each individual needs.”
Mayo is currently working with the city of Rochester on a $6 billion, 20-year “Destination Medical Center” plan, which involves an expansion of Mayo’s facilities, among other economic development plans for the city.
Videos of Noseworthy discussing the U.S. News ranking and the future of health care appear at the bottom of this story.
How Other Minnesota Hospitals Fared
U.S. News sifted through data for nearly 5,000 hospitals and results from surveys of more than 9,500 physicians to determine its “national” rankings, which denote the top hospitals for the 16 specialties. Only 144 hospitals were nationally ranked in a specialty. In addition to Mayo, two other Minnesota hospitals earned the designation.
Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis was nationally ranked in four specialties: cardiology and heart surgery, geriatrics, gynecology, and orthopedics.
The 631-bed general medical and surgical facility had 37,570 admissions in the most recent year reported, according to U.S. News. It performed 14,426 annual inpatient and 11,523 outpatient surgeries, and its emergency room had 47,905 visits. The hospital scored highly in patient safety, demonstrating commitment to reducing accidents, and medical mistakes.
Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, meanwhile, was nationally ranked in the gastroenterology and G.I. surgery specialty. The 254-bed hospital had 20,659 admissions, performed 4,925 annual inpatient and 9,958 outpatient surgeries, and had 58,737 emergency-room visits in its most recently reported year.
Both Abbott Northwestern and Mercy Hospital were also ranked as “high-performing” in several other specialties. And about a dozen other Minnesota hospitals also earned that designation. See how more Minnesota hospitals ranked here.
“U.S. News strives to provide patients and their families with the most comprehensive data available on hospitals,” Health Rankings Editor Avery Comarow said in a statement. “With an estimated 400,000 deaths occurring in hospitals each year from medical errors, measuring safety performance is critical to understanding how well a hospital cares for its patients.”
Videos
Directly below is a video of Mayo’s Noseworthy discussing his organization’s first-ever top ranking on the U.S. News honor roll list. Below that is a video of a Q&A with Noseworthy and Twin Cities Business Editor in Chief Dale Kurschner, in which Noseworthy discusses the future of the health care industry. Find more videos here.