As efforts to rate hospitals聽expand, patients must struggle to make sense of seemingly contradictory assessments. Many of the following national organizations measure different things in different ways, even though their sources of data are similar.
When choosing a hospital, it鈥檚 important to understand what went into the rating 鈥� and not to rely on any single group鈥檚 judgment as gospel.
聽This government site publishes dozens of quality measures that private ratings groups use for their own rankings.聽It won鈥檛 compare more than three hospitals at a time and it doesn鈥檛 synthesize the data into one overall rating.
聽This nonprofit calculates a 鈥渟afety score鈥� on a 100-point scale based on infection, error and readmission rates as well as good communication from doctors and nurses. You need to subscribe to see the data.
聽This private company rates hospitals in up to two dozen specialties and provides some of the Hospital Compare data in a user-friendly format. Healthgrades also gives out awards and distinctions in various specialties.
聽This accrediting group tells you if a hospital has passed its certification reviews.聽 It also gives out awards in areas such as stroke and heart care. Its聽 honors hospitals that follow proper procedures but doesn鈥檛 assess whether treatments were successful.
聽 This nonprofit group uses information from its own surveys as well as government data to come up with a letter grade for how well hospitals protect patients from unnecessary harm.
聽This private company selects best hospitals in five categories based on their size and whether they are teaching institutions or community hospitals. It also picks 15 top hospital systems and best cardiovascular hospitals.
聽Alone among raters, this media company surveys specialists for their opinions in choosing the best national and regional hospitals in different specialties. For 12 specialties, reputation makes up a third of the score, with data determining the rest. In four specialties the ratings are entirely based on reputation. U.S. News also ranks best children鈥檚 hospitals.