US News Ranks Best Pediatric Hospitals in 2014

US News Ranks Best Pediatric Hospitals in 2014

Megan Brooks

June 10, 2014

Boston Children's Hospital and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia tied for first place in the latest US News & World Report's annual rankings of the best US pediatric hospitals released today.

The 2 hospitals have consistently topped the honor roll of US pediatric hospitals. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was number 1 and Boston Children's was number 2 in the 2013–2014 rankings. A year earlier, the 2 hospitals were tied in the rankings.

The 2014–2015 honor roll highlights pediatric centers that provide high-quality care in 3 or more specialties. Both Boston and Philadelphia posted outstanding scores in all 10 specialties.

Making the honor roll this year:

1. Boston Children's Hospital

1. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

3. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

4. Texas Children's Hospital, Houston

5. Children's Hospital Los Angeles

6. Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora

7. Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio

8. Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

8. Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC

10. Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Baltimore

"Finding care for a child with a life-threatening or rare condition is one of the most overwhelming experiences parents face," Ben Harder, managing editor of health care analysis at US News & World Report, said in a statement. "We hope the rankings and information in Best Children's Hospitals help make a family's search for the best care possible for their child a little easier."

US News & World Report has ranked pediatric hospitals each year since 2007. They say the methods behind the new rankings underwent various changes this year, and they highlight 2 such changes in a statement: The scoring weight assigned to infection prevention and to use of "best practices" was increased, and the weight of hospital reputation was decreased. Survival rates, adequacy of nurse volume, and procedure volume are also among the considerations.

"Each year, we strive to hone the methodology and improve the rankings' usefulness to families," said Avery Comarow, US News & World Report's health rankings editor. "With the input of working groups of pediatric medical experts, we've made these changes to better measure care in each specialty."

According to US News, 83.3% of each hospital's score relied on patient outcomes and the care-related resources each hospital makes available. The remaining 16.7% were derived from 3 years of responses to an annual survey of 150 pediatric specialists and subspecialists in each specialty.

To gather clinical data, U.S. News sent a clinical questionnaire to 183 pediatric hospitals. The physicians were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty, setting aside location and expense.

Hospitals were ranked in the following 10 pediatric specialties: cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery, neonatology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology, and urology.

Here are the top 3 hospitals by specialty:

Cancer

  1. Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center

  2. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

  3. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Cardiology and Heart Surgery

  1. Boston Children's Hospital

  2. Texas Children's Hospital

  3. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Diabetes and Endocrinology

  1. Boston Children's Hospital

  2. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

  3. Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital

Gastroenterology and Gastrointestinal Surgery

  1. Boston Children's Hospital

  2. Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

  3. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Neonatology

  1. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

  2. Texas Children's Hospital

  3. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Nephrology

  1. Boston Children's Hospital

  2. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

  3. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Neurology and Neurosurgery

  1. Boston Children's Hospital

  2. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

  3. Johns Hopkins Children's Center

Orthopedics

  1. Boston Children's Hospital

  2. Children's Hospital of Los Angeles

  3. Rady Children's Hospital

Pulmonology

  1. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

  2. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

  3. Boston Children's Hospital

Urology

  1. Boston Children's Hospital

  2. Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health

  3. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia