Newswise — Rush University Medical Center once again has been named one of the nation’s top hospitals, according to the new issue of U.S. News & World Report. Rush is ranked in seven of 16 categories included in the magazine’s 2014 -15 “America’s Best Hospitals” issue, which became available online on July 15, and is one of the two top-ranked hospitals in Illinois overall.
Rush remains among a small group of hospitals that rank highly in multiple specialties. Only 144 of the approximately 5,000 hospitals in the United States — approximately 3 percent — scored high enough this year to rank in even one specialty nationally by U.S. News.
Rush’s orthopedics program was ranked number 6 nationwide, making it the highest ranked orthopedics program in Illinois. Rush’s other ranked programs were geriatrics (No. 17); neurology and neurosurgery (No. 17); nephrology (No. 31); urology (No. 43); cardiology and heart surgery (No. 46); and cancer (No. 48).
U.S. News also noted that the following Rush specialty services are “high-performing”: diabetes and endocrinology; ear, nose and throat; gastroenterology; gynecology; and pulmonary.
“Rush’s strong showing in these rankings demonstrates that we provide outstanding care across a wide range of clinical specialties,” says Larry J. Goodman, MD, Rush CEO. “We are proud to be recognized as one of the very best hospitals in Illinois and among an elite group of health care providers nationwide.”
U.S. News says that the purpose of the “America’s Best Hospitals” issue, now in its 25th year, is to help “guide patients to hospitals with strong skills in the procedures and medical conditions that present the biggest challenges. All of these hospitals are the kinds of medical centers that should be on your list when you need the best care. They are where other hospitals send the toughest cases.”
Hard numbers stand behind the rankings in most specialties — death rates, patient safety, procedure volume, and other objective data. Responses to a national survey, in which physicians were asked to name hospitals they consider best in their specialty for the toughest cases, accounting for more than a quarter of the specialty scores, and patient safety scores account for 10 percent.
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