Pennsylvania's Best Hospitals: New Rankings Released By U.S. News

U.S. News & World Report has released its rankings of the best hospitals in America for 2018-19, evaluating more than 4,500 hospitals in the country across 16 specialties and nine procedures and conditions.

In Pennsylvania, the Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian was ranked as the state’s best hospital. Coming in second was UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside. Jefferson Health-Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia was ranked third.

According to the ranking, these are the best hospitals in Pennsylvania for 2018-19:

• Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian in Philadelphia (1)
• UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside in Pittsburgh (2)
• Jefferson Health-Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia (3)
• Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey (4)
• Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown (5)
• Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood (6)
• Reading Hospital in West Reading (6)
• St. Luke's University Hospital-Bethlehem Campus in Bethlehem (6)
• Penn Medicine Chester County Hospital in West Chester (10)
• PinnacleHealth Hospitals in Harrisburg (10)
• Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia (12)
• Doylestown Hospital in Doylestown (13)
• Jefferson Health-Abington Hospital in Abington (13)
• Paoli Hospital in Paoli (13)
• Bryn Mawr Hospital in Bryn Mawr (16)
• Riddle Hospital in Media (16)
• UPMC Hamot in Erie (16)
• Geisinger Medical Center in Danville (19)
• Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills (19)
• St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne (19)
• Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia (19)
• Forbes Hospital in Monroeville (23)
• Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg in Bethlehem (23)
• St. Clair Hospital in Pittsburgh (23)
• UPMC St. Margaret in Pittsburgh (23)
• WellSpan York Hospital in York (23)
• UPMC Mercy in Pittsburgh (23)
• Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia (29)

Among Pennsylvania's 15 best hospitals, the Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian was ranked in 12 specialties and made the honor roll of best 20 hospitals. UPMC Presbyterian Shadysidewas nationally ranked in 12 adult specialties.

Jefferson Health was nationally ranked in 10 adult specialties, and Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center was nationally ranked in two adult specialties and three pediatric specialties.

U.S. News uses two methodologies, one for procedures and conditions ratings and another for specialty rankings. The rankings are produced by U.S. News with research organization, RTI International. U.S. News says its methodologies in most areas of care are based largely or entirely on objective measures like risk-adjusted survival and readmission rates, volume, patient experience, patient safety and quality of nursing. (You can read more about the methodology here. )

In all, 158 hospitals in the country ranked nationally in at least one specialty and more than 1,100 hospitals were rated as high performing in at least one common procedure or condition, according to U.S. News. A total of 29 hospitals were rated as “high performing” in all nine procedures and conditions. Hospitals were not ranked numerically for procedures and conditions.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, was named the country’s best hospital. It was tops on an “honor roll” list of 20 hospitals noted for delivering “exceptional treatment across multiple areas of care.” The Minnesota hospital was ranked in 15 specialties and rated as “high performing” in one specialty. U.S News explains that a “high performing” rating means a hospital was not nationally ranked but was significantly better than average in a specialty.

The hospitals that made the 2018-19 honor roll are:

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. (1)
Cleveland Clinic (2)
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore (3)
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (4)
University of Michigan Hospitals-Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor (5)
UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco (6)
UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles (7)
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles (8)
Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital, Stanford, Calif. (9)
New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, N.Y. (10)
Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis (11)
Mayo Clinic Phoenix (11)
Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago (13)
Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia (14)
NYU Langone Hospitals, New York (15)
UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, Pittsburgh (15)
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn. (17)
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York (18)
Duke University Hospital, Durham, N.C. (19)
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston (20)

You can see the full rankings here.

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 Surge