US News Names Best Hospitals

At a time when the country has health care top of mind, US News and World Report has released its rankings for the best hospitals around the country and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md., has taken the No. 1 spot.

The magazine indicates that it wasn't routine procedures that counted the most in their rankings -- it was how hospitals handled more complex procedures that weighed more heavily in their decision. Of the 174 hospitals that ranked in one or more specialties, 21 made the Honor Roll by earning high scores in at least six specialties.

All of these hospitals are teaching hospitals, have at least 200 beds, or have at least 100 beds and at least four out of eight medical technologies like current CT scanners and radiation therapies. They also showed a minimum number of Medicare inpatient discharges.

Other factors taken into consideration included reputation, mortality index, patient safety index, and other care-related factors like nurse staffing and technology.

No. 1 Johns Hopkins ranked the highest for their ear, nose and throat; rheumatology and urology specialties. Runner-up Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., ranked highest for their diabetes and endocrine disorders; digestive disorders; neurology and neurosurgery; and orthopedics specialties.

Below is the list of the Top 10 hospitals:

1. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
2. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
3. Ronald Reagan U.C.L.A. Medical Center, Los Angeles
4. Cleveland Clinic
5. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
6. New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell
7. University of California, San Francisco Medical Center
8. Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
9. Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis
10. Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston
10. Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.

Click here to see the full list of hospitals that made the list and to check where your hospital ranks

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