It is important to understand how hospital ranking is assigned and how it actually works. When hospitals are ranked, 16 specialties are considered. Out of the 16, 12 are determined by data. These include cancer, cardiology & heart surgery, diabetes and others. In the remaining 4 specialties like ophthalmology, psychiatry factors like reputation and response from surveys are considered.
Assigning Top Rankings
When it comes to assigning rankings for the hospitals, top 50 rankings are assigned. The remaining hospitals are listed alphabetically on websites. The 12 factors with specialties are judged on the basis of data whereas the remaining four are considered by response and reputations. The scores of all ranked and non-ranked hospitals are also displayed online.
Organizing and Updating
The rankings are assigned annually on the basis of various factors. Data collected is diverse in nature and comes from different sources. Authorities that rank the websites take great care in this regard. The top 20 hospitals ranked first are recognized in the Honor Roll.
It is also worth noting that the hospitals with top rankings are not necessarily always the best choice. As different factors are considered, so they perform better in those areas as compared to other hospitals. But they may not have better specialties or services when compared to low ranked hospitals.
Almost every hospital has this dilemma of RIS vs PACS on which medical data storage system to choose. Many hospitals recommended to consult a few experts that give pointers on RIS vs PACS before choosing.
Criteria of Ranking
There are also rules when it comes to deciding if a hospital will be included in the ranking process or not. Different authorities and boards work together to obtain data from multiple sources. If the data acquired meet their standards or minimum requirements, a hospital is considered for ranking. Thus not all hospitals are included in the ranking. Last year, more than 4000 hospitals were listed.
Factors of Ranking Hospitals
1. Survival Rate- 37.5%
It is an important factor which is considered while ranking hospitals. The survival shows the number of patients that were discharged or died in the hospitals. Points from 1 to 10 are assigned to every hospital and 10 stands for the highest ranking in survival.
2. Patient Safety- 5%
The patient safety measure is also a factor which is considered while ranking the hospitals. It determines how good or bad a hospital is when it comes to safety measures for the patients. The hospitals that get maximum score here have no incidents or eventualities related to patient safety.
3. Expert Opinion- 27.5%
When the hospitals are ranked, expert opinion is also a factor which is considered in this regard just as it is required in a normal thing like RIS vs DICOM PACS. Experts are invited who rank the websites ignoring costs and location. What these experts say or rank the sites plays a great role in the overall ranking of the hospitals. It has more than 27% role in score allocation for the hospitals.
Other Factors- 30%
Lastly, the authorities and boards do consider a number of other factors. Some of these factors are listed below.
- Nursing staff
- Patient volume
- Clinically proven technologies
- Surgical care
- Heart attack and heart failure
- Children’s asthma
- Use of new technology or software
- Hospital resources
- Patient outcomes
