U.S. News & World Report has released its 2016-17 Best Hospitals rankings, and Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic came out on top, ousting Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital as the No. 1 hospital in the nation.
In fact, Cleveland Clinic was ranked the No. 2 hospital this year, bumping Mass General to the third spot on the Honor Roll.
Here are six things to know about the 25th annual Best Hospitals rankings released Tuesday by U.S. News.
1. U.S. News updated ranking methodologies this year, following through on a June announcement. Updates include:
- Further adjusting for patients' socioeconomic status
- Crediting hospitals that are transparent with their cardiology and heart surgery data, thus reducing the weight reputation previously held in the specialty
- Evaluating hospitals in four new conditions for the common care ratings: abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, aortic valve surgery, colon cancer surgery and lung cancer surgery
2. The publication changed how it puts together its Honor Roll this year to better encompass the full range of adult care. Now, in addition to including the 16 specialty rankings, it also looks at hospital performance on nine common reasons for hospitalization: colon cancer surgery, lung cancer surgery, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, aortic valve surgery, heart bypass surgery, hip replacement, knee replacement, congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Points were awarded for a national ranking in any of the 16 ranked specialties and also for receiving a "high performing" rating on the nine procedures.
3. U.S. News included the 20 top-scoring hospitals in its Honor Roll this year. Last year the Honor Roll included 15 hospitals. This year's Honor Roll hospitals are ranked as follows:
1. Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.)
2. Cleveland Clinic
3. Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston)
4. Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore)
5. UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles)
6. NewYork-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell
7. UCSF Medical Center (San Francisco)
8. Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago)
9. Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian (Philadelphia)
10. NYU Langone Medical Center
11. Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University (St. Louis)
12. UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside (Pittsburgh)
13. Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston)
14. Stanford Health Care-Stanford (Calif.) Hospital
15. Mount Sinai Hospital (New York City)
16. Duke University Hospital (Durham, N.C.)
17. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles)
18. University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers (Ann Arbor)
19. Houston Methodist Hospital
20. University of Colorado Hospital (Aurora)
4. Even with the changes in Honor Roll methodology, this year's Honor Roll looks remarkably similar to last year's. All 15 hospitals from last year's Honor Roll are on this year's version as well; the newcomers are Mount Sinai Hospital, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers, Houston Methodist Hospital and the University of Colorado Hospital.
5. The following are the top three hospitals in three high-profile specialties:
Cancer
1. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston)
2. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York City)
3. Mayo Clinic
Cardiology & heart surgery
1. Cleveland Clinic
2. Mayo Clinic
3. NewYork-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell
Orthopedics
1. Hospital for Special Surgery (New York City)
2. Mayo Clinic
3. Cleveland Clinic
6. A total of 153 hospitals were nationally ranked in at least one specialty.
See the full rankings and methodology explanation here.