Best Hospitals In Massachusetts: US News & World Report

U.S. News and World Report released its annual rankings of the best hospitals in the country for 2017-18, ranking more than 4,500 medical centers in the U.S. in 25 specialties, procedures and conditions. The rankings also looked at the best hospitals in every state and the 20 hospitals that made it to the honor roll, a distinction given to hospitals that deliver exceptional treatment across multiple specialties.

U.S. News ranked 152 hospitals nationally in at least one specialty, and 535 hospitals were recognized as best regional hospitals for those seeking care close to home. One Massachusetts hospital made the top 20 honor roll this year, but another staple fell out for the first time in more than two decades. We'll get to that later. All in all, it was another fine showing by the Bay State in one of its most prized areas.

Mass. General ranked as the No. 1 hospital in Massachusetts, No. 4 in the country. MGH ranked in the top 50 in 16 adult specialties, including nine top-5 rankings. The hospital was No. 2 in diabetes and endocrinology, ear nose and throat, and psychiatry.

Brigham and Women's ranked in the top 50 in 11 adult specialties, including three top-5 rankings. The hospital finished fourth in cancer and gynecology. Tufts and Boston Medical each finished in the top 50 in one adult specialty.

See which Rhode Island and New Hampshire hospitals made the list.

According to the rankings, the best hospitals in Massachusetts are:

1. Massachusetts General Hospital
2. Brigham and Women's Hospital
3. Baystate Medical Center
4. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
5. UMass Memorial Medical Center
6. Tufts Medical Center
7. South Shore Hospital
8. Lahey Hospital and Medical Center
9. Southcoast Charlton Memorial Hospital
10. Boston Medical Center

The methodology used by U.S. News is based largely on objective measures with more than 70 percent of the rankings relying on such data. The rankings also took into account survey answers from more than 125,000 physicians across the country about reputation. U.S. News also looked at five years of Medicare data and the number of patients treated in hospitals. The methodology was also updated to avoid penalizing hospitals for treating low-income hospitals or for accepting high-risk cases transferred from other hospitals. For the best regional hospitals, procedures and conditions rankings were emphasized more than specialty rankings.

The methodology, in fact, is what Brigham and Women's told The Boston Globe is the reason it's out of top 20 for the first time in 24 years.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, topped the honor roll for the second consecutive year. Cleveland Clinic was ranked number two, and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore climbed up the rankings one spot this year to number three on the honor roll.

The hospitals on U.S. News’ honor roll are:

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco
University of Michigan Hospital and Health Centers, Ann Arbor
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
New-York Presbyterian Hospital, New York
Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital, Stanford, California
Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri
Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, Pittsburgh
University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora
Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Philadelphia
Duke University Hospital, Durham, North Carolina
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
NYU Langone Medical Center, New York
Mayo Clinic Phoenix, Phoenix

The specialties included in the rankings are:

• Cancer
• Cardiology and Heart Surgery
• Diabetes and Endocrinology
• Ear, Nose and Throat
• Gastroenterology and GI Surgery
• Geriatrics
• Gynecology
• Nephrology
• Neurology and Neurosurgery
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopedics
• Pulmonology
• Psychiatry
• Rehabilitation
• Rheumatology
• Urology

The procedures and conditions included in the rankings are:

• COPD
• Heart Bypass Surgery
• Heart Failure
• Hip Replacement
• Knee Replacement
• Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair
• Aortic Valve Surgery
• Colon Cancer Surgery
• Lung Cancer Surgery

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