America's Best Hospitals: 2009-10

I just want to know who made USN&WR such an expert on hospitals- I have never been able to discern thier evaluation criteria. I would love to see the ANA, AMA, and/or AHA do a comprehensive review of the nations hospitals and try to give an objective evaluation. From what I can tell the main purpose of this "Best Hospitals" list is to provide a vehicle for P.R. for the hospitals that made the list.

Hard data, such as death rates and numbers of nurses, largely determined 12 of the 16 specialty rankings. To be a candidate for these specialties, a hospital first had to meet any one of three criteria: be a teaching hospital, have at least 200 beds, or have at least 100 beds and at least four out of eight important medical technologies, such as current-generation CT scanners and precision radiation therapies. This year, 44 percent of all hospitals met that test.

Reputation counted as 32.5 percent of the score.
A mortality index made up 32.5 percent of the score
A new patient safety index comprised 5 percent of the score
Other care-related factors, 30 percent of the score. Includes nurse staffing, technology, and other care-related information. The primary source was the American Hospital Association's 2007 survey of member and nonmember hospitals.

Feel Us News putting too much weight on reputation ( physician's perception of prestige) and not enough weight on patient safety and OUTCOMES. I've been amazed by some doctors who are impressed by a physician's great diagnostic ability or surgery but overall patient management is terrible and office is a shambles trying to get patient care needs addressed.



As quality reporting data now being required by Medicare, expect reputation to decrease and that factor to increase.

If I remember correctly, it's something about death rates, nursing care, safety in each specialty (neuro, cardiac, etc) and they're added up.

I work in one of those top ten hospitals. They pimp their rank left and right.