BIRMINGHAM, AL —Two UAB Hospital specialty programs made the Top 10 and nine specialty programs are ranked in this year’s U.S. News & World Report’s annual “America’s Best Hospitals” issue, released Friday. Rheumatology was ranked sixth for an unprecedented 14th consecutive year; and heart and heart surgery has leaped from 25th to 10th during the last two years.
“We are absolutely delighted that UAB Hospital continues to be ranked tops and alongside the best hospitals in the country,” said Dr. Robert R. Rich, UAB senior vice president and dean of the UAB School of Medicine. “Once again, these rankings are a testament to the outstanding faculty and staff here, and the high-quality and cutting-edge health care services they provide.”
The annual rankings rate hospitals in 17 subspecialties. In 12 of the 17 subspecialties, rankings are based on three equally rated criteria: reputation, death rate, and care-related factors such as nursing and patient services. The others are ranked based on reputation, as recommended by three percent or more of board-certified physicians who responded to U.S. News surveys in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
All 6,007 U.S. hospitals were evaluated. Of those, only 176 hospitals scored high enough this year to rank in even a single specialty. Most of the hospitals in the rankings are referral centers, because their physicians see sicker patients and do greater numbers of tough procedures, U.S. News reported. “They follow, and often pioneer, advanced treatment guidelines. They conduct bench-to-bedside research. And they exploit advances in imaging, surgical devices and other technologies,” according to guidelines released by the magazine on its methodology for the rankings.
UAB programs ranked include: Cancer, ranked 22nd; Ear, Nose and Throat, ranked 29th; Geriatrics, ranked 27th; Gynecology, ranked 15th; Heart and Heart Surgery, ranked 10th; Kidney Disease, ranked 15th; Neurology and Neurosurgery, ranked 35th; Orthopedics, ranked 34th, and Rheumatology, ranked sixth. Cardiology has been ranked for the past 10 years and gynecology for seven years. This is the 16th year that U.S. News has published its “America’s Best Hospitals” issue.