US News Ranks Best Pediatric Hospitals in 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
Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Cardiology and Heart Surgery
Boston Children's Hospital
Texas Children's Hospital
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Diabetes and Endocrinology
Boston Children's Hospital
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital
Gastroenterology and Gastrointestinal Surgery
Boston Children's Hospital
Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Neonatology
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Texas Children's Hospital
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Nephrology
Boston Children's Hospital
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Neurology and Neurosurgery
Boston Children's Hospital
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Johns Hopkins Children's Center
Orthopedics
Boston Children's Hospital
Children's Hospital of Los Angeles
Rady Children's Hospital
Pulmonology
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Boston Children's Hospital
Urology
Boston Children's Hospital
Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
