The yearly U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals [1] issue is one of the most anticipated publications by healthcare consumers. The 2017-2018 edition ranks Baptist Hospital [2] as the #1 facility in the region, which includes Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
In addition, several other Baptist Health South Florida [3] hospitals are recognized for being among the best healthcare providers in the nation. South Miami Hospital [4] and West Kendall Baptist Hospital [5] are tied for #6 and Homestead Hospital [6] garnered a ranking of #9.
“We are very proud that Baptist Hospital earned the top spot in our area for its commitment to excellence. We share this first-rate recognition with our physicians, nurses and employees, who carry out our mission of providing high-quality, compassionate healthcare to our patients,” said Brian E. Keeley, president and chief executive officer of Baptist Health. “To be honored among the best hospitals locally and in the nation validates that we are meeting and surpassing the high standards we set for our organization and that results in great patient care,” Mr. Keeley added.
With the goal of helping patients make informed decisions about where to receive care for serious medical conditions and common elective procedures, the annual Best Hospitals report is in its 28th year. “For nearly three decades, we’ve strived to make hospital quality more transparent to healthcare consumers nationwide,” said Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis at U.S. News. “By providing the most comprehensive data available, we hope to give patients the information they need to find the best care across a range of specialties.”
Five Baptist Health hospitals—Baptist Hospital, Doctors Hospital [7], Homestead Hospital, South Miami Hospital and West Kendall Baptist Hospital—earned a total of 29 high-performing honors in 13 types of care, including: Gastroenterology & GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Neurology & Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology, Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair, Heart Bypass Surgery, Heart Failure, Colon Cancer Surgery, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Hip Replacement, Knee Replacement and Lung Cancer Surgery. Baptist Health’s Centers of Excellence – Miami Cancer Institute [8], Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute [9], Miami Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute [10] and Baptist Health Neuroscience Center [11] – were all recognized as high-performing in their respective area of expertise.
For the 2017-18 rankings, U.S. News evaluated more than 4,500 medical centers nationwide in 25 specialties, procedures and conditions. In the 16 specialty areas, 146 hospitals were ranked in at least one specialty. In rankings by state and metro area, U.S. News recognized hospitals as high performing across multiple areas of care.
The U.S. News methodologies include risk-adjusted survival and readmission rates, volume, patient experience, patient safety, quality of nursing care and other care-related indicators.