Queen’s Ranked Among Nation’s Best Hospitals

From US News and World Report

Washington D.C. – July 17, 2012 – The Queen’s Medical Center has been recognized as Best Hospital in Hawaii by the U.S. News & World Report in its annual Best Hospitals rankings. This year’s Best Hospitals, the 23rd annual edition, showcases more than 720 of the nation’s roughly 5,000 hospitals. Fewer than 150 hospitals are nationally ranked in at least one of 16 medical specialties. The rest of the recognized hospitals met a standard of performance nearly as demanding in one or more specialties.

The rankings recognized The Queen’s Medical Center as “high-performing” in the following specialties: Cancer, Cardiology and Heart Surgery, Gastroenterology, Geriatrics, Gynecology, Nephrology, Orthopedics, Pulmonology and Urology.

“The Queen’s Medical Center is honored to be nationally recognized as the Best Hospital in our state,” said Art Ushijima, President of The Queen’s Medical Center. “Our dedicated Queen’s team is committed to providing the highest quality of patient care to the people of Hawaii.”

U.S. News Health Rankings Editor Avery Comarow said the hospital rankings are like a GPS-type aid to help steer 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,” said Comarow. “They are where other hospitals send the toughest cases.”

A hospital’s ranking depends largely on objective data, much of which comes from the federal government. Many categories of data go into the rankings, including the hospital’s death rates. Other data includes the number of patients and the balance of nurses and patients, backed by solid medical research. A survey of physicians, who are asked to name hospitals they consider tops in their specialty, produces a reputation score that is also factored in.

The rankings were published by U.S. News in collaboration with RTI International, a research organization based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Highlights of the 2012-13 rankings will appear in the U.S. News Best Hospitals 2013 guidebook, to go on sale in August.

The complete rankings and methodology are available at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals.