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How do we rate in U.S. News & World Report,
and why?
By now, you’ve probably heard or read the
results of the 2005 U.S. News & World Report ranking of "America’s
Best Hospitals". The U-M Health System has retained its overall ranking
as the 11th best medical center in the country, the same level it
achieved last year.
Congratulations to all of us at the U-M Cardiovascular Center (CVC)
for contributing to this effort. The CVC continues to maintain an
upward trend for our cardiovascular programs. U.S. News ranked us as
number 18 in the nation for 2005, up from 19 in 2004 and 22 in 2003.
"This is a great source of pride for all of us at the CVC, especially
since it clearly indicates that our new building,clinical outcomes, research and the efforts from all of our staff
are having a sure
and steady impact on the CVC’s national ranking," says Linda
Larin, administrative director for the CVC.
According to Larin, this trend has not always been the case. Over
the decade or more that U.S. News has been ranking hospitals and their
specialties, there were some years when U-M’s cardiovascular programs
were listed and other years when they were not.
The criteria for eligibility and methodology for the ranking process
are part of the reasons. U.S. News notes several factors, including reputation
among board-certified physicians, mortality statistics, cumulative volumes,
nursing care, medical technology, palliative care and discharge planning.
In particular, Larin underscores the impact of reputation on rankings.
"Reputation represents 33 percent of the overall score. The CVC has
been receiving
tremendous exposure because of our new building and our groundbreaking
research. As a result, we are gaining momentum in our reputation which we believe is impacting our improved rankings,"
she says.
The "America's Best Hospitals" methodology was devised in 1993
at the University of Chicago. U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings
of "America's Best Hospitals" were produced in 2005 by RTI International.
For more information about the Health System’s ranking, read
the full story.
To read the methodology used by U.S. News, click
here.
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