The U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals rankings are released each summer. Data from multiple sources dating back several years are used to calculate the results.

In 2018, 16 specialties were included in the rankings: Cancer; Cardiology & Heart Surgery; Diabetes & Endocrinology; Ear, Nose & Throat; Gastroenterology & GI Surgery; Geriatrics; Gynecology; Nephrology; Neurology & Neurosurgery; Orthopedics; Pulmonology; Urology; Ophthalmology; Psychiatry; Rehabilitation; and Rheumatology. Expert opinion is the sole basis for ranking these last four specialities.

In addition, U.S. News rates nine procedures and conditions annually. These include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, coronary artery bypass grafting, abdominal aortic aneurysm, valve repair, colon cancer surgery, lung cancer surgery, total hip replacement and total knee replacement.

These specialty, condition and procedure ratings are combined to create an Honor Roll that recognizes the nation’s top 20 hospitals with the highest rankings across all areas.

This year, points were assigned to hospitals by their rank in each specialty, as well as by the number of “high-performing” ratings for conditions and procedures. The points were summed across each of these areas, and the 20 hospitals with the most points were assigned to the Honor Roll. Hospitals were rank-ordered by the number of points, which determined the Honor Roll order.

U.S. News adjusts its methodology each year. In 2018, changes were made to the mortality calculations, and there was a conversion to ICD-10 coding.

Structure: 30% Structure refers to hospital resources directly related to
patient care. Examples include the ratio of nurses to patients, patient volume, and
key technologies or patient services offered.

Process: 27.5% Process refers to expert opinion of specialists, or
reputation. In 2018, more than 100,000 specialists were asked for their opinion
on which hospitals provide the best care for patients with the most challenging
conditions or who require particularly difficult procedures. The survey was
conducted online through Doximity.com and through a limited paper survey.

Outcomes: 37.5% Outcomes or survival score looks at a specialty’s
success in keeping patients alive 30 days after admission. Each specialty receives a
score of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best.

Patient Safety: 5% Patient safety measures the hospital’s efforts to
prevent four harmful errors in patient care. Each hospital is awarded a score
of 1 to 9, with 9 being the best.