Hospital Honor Roll: The Best of the Best
By Jennifer Larson, contributor
Every year, the U.S. News Media Group publishes a list of the top hospitals in the country, by medical specialty and by region, in U.S. News & World Report. As in previous years, the recently released 2011-2012 Best Hospitals rankings also spotlight the elite hospitals, with 17 listed on this year’s Honor Roll—the best of the best.
“All of those hospitals in the top tier are excellent hospitals,” noted Karen Haller, Ph.D., RNB, vice president for nursing and patient care services at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., which garnered the top ranking on the honor roll. “They’re all good, and we’re glad to be in their company.”
The hospitals that achieved the top rankings have multiple top-ranked medical specialties (at least six out of 16). Data from physician surveys and statistics in a variety of areas, including death rates and patient safety, were also used to formulate the rankings.
And these top hospitals have many things in common, including a desire to keep improving. That desire to improve upon excellence is perhaps the most important hallmark of these institutions.
“The lack of complacency is really important, to not rest on our laurels,” said Sheila Antrum, BSN, RN, MHSA, executive director for patient care services and the chief nursing officer for UCSF Medical Center, which ranked No. 7 on the honor roll.
Heidi Crooks, RN, MA, the chief nursing officer and senior associate director for operations and patient care at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (No. 5), agreed.
“We have recognized the power in our success, and the next step is, in fact, to never ever be satisfied with where you are but to further improve and to engage the staff so that it becomes their main issue, so they take ownership of it,” she said.
Other qualities that many of the best hospitals share:
• A patient-first culture
• An affiliation with a top-notch medical school or health science center
• A focus on cutting-edge research
• The incorporation of the newest and best technology
Leaders from top hospitals like to emphasize their focus on the future, but they also say they never want to lose track of the most important person in the entire process: the patient.
Herbert Pardes, M.D., president and CEO of New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, which ranked sixth, said that he believes that having a “patient-first” culture is critical. During his tenure at the medical center, he has worked to help the hospital develop a reputation as having a warm, caring attitude so that patients would have a positive experience.
At Johns Hopkins, the guiding principle is “The patient is the north star.” That’s what keeps everyone on track, Haller said, from the people cleaning the rooms to the people performing surgery. And leaders from the other top hospitals agreed that each person plays an important role—and is aware of his or her contribution.
“They can feel proud about that fact,” UCLA’s Crooks said.
Indeed, these hospitals have many similarities. But the best hospitals each have something that distinguishes them from every other hospital on the list, as well.
New York-Presbyterian is proud of its unique affiliation with two excellent medical schools, said Pardes. That relationship is a major factor in the hospital’s success.
“That means we have experts in every conceivable area and [they’re] doing state-of-the-art work to develop better treatments,” he said.
Johns Hopkins, like many other top hospitals, has achieved a reputation for its research. But the focus is slightly different, Haller said; a deliberate emphasis is placed on bringing laboratory research to the bedside.
“We take great pride in bringing the science to patients and taking care of them as well,” Haller said, adding that they always are working to remain on the cutting edge when it comes to bringing scientific discoveries to patients.
On the other side of the country, UCSF leaders are proud of an unusual program that promotes collaboration. Several years ago, UCSF established nurse-resident councils to address communication with the goal of quality improvement. Today, there are five unit-specific councils which focus on helping staff members collaborate to provide the best patient care. A team is planning to publish a paper later this year about the program’s success.
“They have made this their passion,” Antrum said.
Along with the honor roll, U.S. News Media Group also released a list of regionally ranked hospitals from 94 metro areas. Of approximately 5,000 hospitals in the nation, 720 were spotlighted. Rankings for the top children’s hospitals were also released.
For a list of all 17 hospitals on the 2011-2012 honor roll, the top ranked children’s hospitals, the hospital rankings by specialty and the list of regionally ranked facilities, visit the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals site.
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