For the 15th consecutive year, The Johns Hopkins Hospital has topped U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of American hospitals.

This year’s annual guide reports rankings of American medical centers in 17 specialties. It was designed to identify hospitals that excel in a variety of difficult areas of care, according to the magazine’s editors. Just 176 hospitals among the nation’s 6,007 medical centers scored high enough to rank in even a single area and only 16 accumulated enough points to make it to the Honor Roll topped by Hopkins and reserved for medical centers that placed at or near the top in at least six specialties.

Hopkins earned 32 points in 16 areas by placing #1 in Ear, Nose & Throat, Gynecology, Kidney Disease (up from #2 last year), Rheumatology (up from #2 last year) and Urology; #2 in Ophthalmology, Geriatrics, and Neurology & Neurosurgery; #3 in Cancer, Digestive Disorders, Heart & Heart Surgery (up from #4 last year), Hormonal Disorders, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Respiratory Disorders; and #4 in Orthopedics. Hopkins’ Rehabilitation services placed 14th. 

According to the magazine’s editors, the rankings were based on a point formula that comprised a combination of hard data and reputational surveys among a sampling of board-certified physicians randomly selected from the American Medical Association’s list of all 811,000 U.S. doctors.

In 12 of the 17 specialties, ranked hospitals were measured on such factors as mortality ratios, severity of illnesses treated, nurse staffing, use of key technologies, patient and community services, commitment to research and use of advanced treatment guidelines. Certification as a Nurse Magnet facility, a designation Hopkins nursing holds, was also a criterion.

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Three-Way "Domino" Kidney Transplant Includes a First

Surgeons at Johns Hopkins performed what is believed to be the world's first "domino" three-way kidney transplant involving an altruistic, non-directed living donor. Prior to the surgeries, transplant specialists searched their wait list of recipients for the best possible "matches" for kidney donors and discovered that a domino-effect could be achieved by including an altruistic donor who was willing to give his kidney to anyone who needed it.

"The shortage of donor kidneys for patients who need kidney transplantation is a national public health problem," says Robert A. Montgomery, M.D., Ph.D., lead surgeon on the case and director of Comprehensive Transplant Center at Johns Hopkins. "In this case, an altruistic donor's gift allowed three transplants to take place. All three transplanted kidneys are working well and the six donors and recipients are recovering quickly," added Montgomery.

The Hopkins team performed its first "triple swap" kidney exchange on July 28, 2003, building on the success of the paired kidney exchange program that it began in 2001. In a paired kidney exchange, incompatible donors agree to give a kidney to a stranger in order for their loved one to receive a kidney.

More than 60,000 people await kidney donation and are listed on the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) recipient registry, and nearly one-third of patients with willing donors are excluded from kidney transplantation because of blood-type and other incompatibilities.

For more information visit the Johns Hopkins website for Incompatible Kidney Transplant Programs