Top 50 Children’s Hospital Ranking Provides Inspiration

A report was recently released by USA Today telling the story of the findings of the U.S. News & World Report.  The publication aims to create a list of the best children’s hospitals throughout the country each year.  In order to evaluate medical facilities, which can differ quite substantially, there are a number of criteria pre-defined upon which they judge each of the eligible hospitals.

Even for those not named to the list of 50 elite children’s hospitals this year, and also for those who are not designated as children’s hospitals, there is reason to consider the criteria used to evaluate the facilities.

First, it should be noted that hospitals were broken down based on specialties – cancer, neurology, endocrinology, etc. However, beyond that, it was really fairly basic criteria used to define the value of the medical facility in comparison to others, which would apply regardless of specialties.  The following are listed in no particular order:

#1. Patient Volume: Obviously hospitals that are superior to others are going to attract more patients.  That means that the best will generally have among the highest patient volumes.

#2. Clinical Outcomes: Close attention was paid to the performance of the physicians on staff at the medical facilities.  The researchers wanted to know how often the intended outcome was achieved, and, on the contrary, how often procedures did not go as planned or led to additional problems for the patients.

#3. Staffing: The best hospitals must be well staffed, so that patients’ problems can be addressed in a timely, professional, and accurate manner.  Understaffed or improperly staffed facilities cannot provide optimum care.

#4. Compliance with rules, regulations and guidelines: This is an obvious criterium.  A hospital regularly documented for failing to abide by the best practices would not be a candidate for best hospital in this nation.

There were other things considered when narrowing the field of the best of the best, but these were considered the primary criteria, and they should be among the biggest considerations for all medical facilities in the nation.

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