Boston Children’s Hospital received the top spot for best children’s hospital in US News & World Report’s 14th-annual ranking for 2020-2021 . The pediatric facility has maintained the leading spot in the rankings for seven consecutive years. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia garnered second place in the honor roll, followed by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in third.
In addition to the overall honor roll for best pediatric hospitals, US News also ranks children’s hospitals in 10 specialties, including heart surgery, pediatric cancer, and pediatric cardiology. In the 2020-2021 specialty rankings, 88 hospitals filled the list’s top 50 in at least one pediatric medical specialty.
To earn a spot on US News’ children’s hospital rankings, pediatric hospitals had to be highly rated in a clinical survey, which was sent to nearly 200 hospitals and scopes out essential data about the hospital and its patients, as well as in an opinion survey filled out by nearly 5000 pediatric physicians this year. The surveys were administered and analyzed by the North Carolina-based research and consulting firm RTI International, with input from more than 100 pediatric medical experts regarding what information to gather and how to analyze the results.
Detailed methods for the rankings, which specify that the opinion survey comprises 15% of a score, are available online. The clinical survey asked about three areas: clinical outcomes, efficient coordination of demonstrative care, and accessibility of care-related resources, US News outlined.
For this year in particular, “the clinical data used in the rankings reflect a period of time that ended before the coronavirus outbreak became a pandemic,” US News reported.
The overall honor roll ranked children’s hospitals in this year’s report as follows:
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Boston Children’s Hospital
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Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
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Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
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Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston
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Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
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Children’s Hospital Colorado
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Children’s National Hospital, Washington, DC
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Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus
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UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
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Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford
The top hospital in each specialty is as follows; a full list of the specialty rankings can be found on the US News website.
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Cancer: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
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Cardiology & heart surgery: Texas Children’s Hospital
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Diabetes & endocrinology: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
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Gastroenterology & GI surgery: Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora
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Neonatology: Children’s National Hospital, Washington, DC
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Nephrology: Boston Children’s Hospital
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Neurology & Neurosurgery: Boston Children’s Hospital
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Orthopedics: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
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Pulmonology & lung surgery: Boston Children’s Hospital
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Urology: Boston Children’s Hospital
“We are proud to serve a broad and diverse patient population that often comes to us for answers they can’t find anywhere else,” said Sandra L. Fenwick, CEO of Boston Children’s Hospital. “This top ranking is a credit and a tribute to our extraordinary and deeply committed clinicians, researchers, and so many others who dedicate every day to improving and advancing the health and well-being of all children.”
Victoria Giardina is Medscape’s editorial intern. She has previously written for “The Dr. Oz Show” and is currently a National Lifestyle Writer for Her Campus. She can be reached at vgiardina@webmd.net or on Twitter @VickyRGiardina.
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