America’s Best Children’s Hospitals, 2016-17
Pediatric nurses care for children in a variety of settings, including dozens of specialty children’s hospitals around the country. But which hospitals stand out from the rest?
U.S. News has released their annual list of the Best Children’s Hospitals in the country for 2016-2017 to help answer that question--including 78 that rank among the best in 10 pediatric specialties and an Honor Roll of the top 11 ranked pediatric hospitals overall.
The Best Children’s Hospitals Honor Roll for 2016-17 includes:
1. Boston Children's Hospital
2. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
3. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
4. Texas Children's Hospital, Houston
5. Seattle Children's Hospital
6. Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
7*. Children's Hospital Los Angeles
7*. Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
9. Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora
10*. Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Palo Alto, Calif.
10*. Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
See this year’s full list of top children’s hospitals as ranked in 10 pediatric specialties.
How the rankings were determined
The 2016-17 rankings of Best Children’s Hospitals were created from data collected through a clinical survey sent to 183 pediatric hospitals and a reputational survey sent to more than 10,000 pediatric specialists and subspecialists, more than 2,700 of which responded. These physicians were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty.
In 2016, 78 children's hospitals were ranked in at least one of the pediatric specialties evaluated. Eleven hospitals garnered high scores in three or more specialties and were named to the Honor Roll.
Most of the hospitals surveyed for the annual rankings are freestanding children's hospitals or multispecialty pediatric departments so large that they function as if they are a hospital within a hospital. A few others focus on specialties such as cancer or are included because they were previously ranked or have been recommended by trusted sources. The majority of the surveyed centers are members of the Children's Hospital Association.
Some kinds of data in the clinical survey, such as adequacy of nurse staffing and programs to prevent infection, were used to evaluate hospitals in all 10 specialties. Others only apply to a particular specialty.
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Pediatric hospital rankings depended on how well a facility performed in three broad respects:
1. Clinical outcomes, such as maximizing cancer survival and minimizing rates of various infections;
2. Efficient coordination of care as demonstrated, for example, by complying with accepted best practices; and,
3. Sufficient care-related resources such as nursing staff and outpatient programs tailored to particular conditions.
Results from three years of annual surveys of pediatric specialists contributed 15 percent of a hospital's score.
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The U.S. News team ranked the top 50 pediatric facilities in 10 specialties, from cancer to urology. In the 2016-17 rankings, 78 hospitals ranked among the top 50 in at least one specialty.
The top-ranked children’s hospitals in 10 pediatric specialties include:
• Cancer — Dana-Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center
• Cardiology & Heart Surgery — Boston Children's Hospital
• Diabetes & Endocrinology — Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
• Gastroenterology & GI Surgery — Boston Children's Hospital
• Neonatology — Boston Children's Hospital
• Nephrology — Boston Children's Hospital
• Neurology & Neurosurgery — Boston Children's Hospital
• Orthopedics — Boston Children's Hospital
• Pulmonology — Texas Children's Hospital
• Urology — Boston Children's Hospital
See the top 50 children’s hospital rankings in each pediatric specialty.
Source: U.S. News
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