U.S. News and World Report releases expanded hospital rankings

The Mayo Clinic tops the 2016-17 U.S. News and World Report best hospitals list, which has been expanded to include 20 facilities on its “honor roll” based on 25 different specialties, procedures and conditions.

The methodology used for the overall rankings judges hospitals based on objective measures like patient volume, rates of patient survival and hospital-acquired infections, and adequacy of nurse staffing. This year, U.S. News says it accounted for the socioeconomic differences in a hospital’s patient population, reflecting what CMS has done with its own star ratings released in July.

The top 20 hospitals are:

1. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
2. Cleveland Clinic
3. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
4. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
5. UCLA Medical Center
6. New York-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 Hospital, Stanford, Calif.
15. Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
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

Massachusetts General had been no. 1 on the 2015-16 list. To make the “honor roll,” hospitals have to rank at or near the top in at least six specialties. The Mayo Clinic is ranked No. 1 in eight: diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and GI surgery, geriatrics, gynecology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, pulmonology and urology.

“We are honored to be recognized in this way, as it reflects the tremendous work of our staff every day in caring for our patients and their families,” said John Noseworthy, MD, president and CEO of Mayo Clinic. “This ranking is a testament to the dedication and excellence of all of our Mayo Clinic staff.”

The top hospitals in other specialties, procedures and conditions where the Mayo Clinic isn’t ranked No. 1 are:

• Cancer: University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston
• Cardiology & heart surgery: Cleveland Clinic
• Ear, nose & throat: Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General
• Ophthalmology: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute-Anne Bates Leach Eye Hospital, Miami
• Orthopedics: Hospital for Special Surgery, New York
• Psychiatry: Massachusetts General
• Rehabilitation: Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
• Rheumatology: John Hopkins Hospital
• Abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: Abington Memorial Hospital, Abington, Pa.
• Aortic valve surgery: Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, Ill.
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis
• Colon cancer surgery: Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis
• Heart bypass surgery: Abington Memorial Hospital, Abington, Pa.
• Heart failure: Abington Memorial Hospital, Abington, Pa.
• Hip replacement: Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis
•  Knee replacement: Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis
• Lung cancer surgery: Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis '

A total of 153 hospitals were ranked in at least one specialty. All of the lists can be viewed here.