The country’s highest-profile hospital ranking report, produced by US News & World Report, recognized two of the Lehigh Valley’s largest facilities as one of the top 6 in the state.
Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township and St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill tied for sixth place in the Pennsylvania ranking. The University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian hospitals were the only hospitals in the state to rank on the nation’s Top 20 Best Honor Roll in the nation. Mayo Clinic, based in Minnesota, was again named the best hospital nationwide.
The complete list of all state and national hospitals can be viewed here.
The magazine reviewed 5,000 hospitals and medical centers nationwide in 26 specialties, procedures, and conditions for its annual list. The data collected for the listing predated the coronavirus pandemic, so its impact on hospitals nationwide is not shown in the latest classifications.
“The pandemic has altered, perhaps permanently, the way in which patients receive care and from whom they obtain it,” Ben Harder, managing editor and chief health analyst for US News, said in a statement. “In the midst of the disruption, we are firmly committed to providing the public with authoritative data to compare the quality of the hospital. No clinical team at the hospital went through this unprecedented health crisis. “
The specialties in which the hospitals were classified included cancer; cardiology and cardiac surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; ear, nose and throat; gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery; geriatrics; gynecology; nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery; ophthalmology; orthopedics; psychiatry, pulmonology and pulmonary surgery; rehabilitation; rheumatology and urology.
Survival rates, patient experience, specialized personnel, and advanced technologies were some of the factors considered.
In the 16 specialty areas, 134 hospitals were classified into at least one specialty. In the state and metropolitan area classifications, US News recognized hospitals as high performing in multiple areas of care. The list, now in its 31st year, is designed to help patients and physicians make informed decisions about where to get care for difficult health conditions or common elective procedures.
Regionally, Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest was ranked first in the Allentown region for the seventh consecutive year. It was classified as high performance in seven adult specialties and eight procedures and conditions. Specialties include: gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery; geriatrics; nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics; pulmonology and pulmonary surgery; and urology. Procedures and conditions include: aortic valve surgery; Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD); colon cancer surgery; heart bypass surgery; heart failure; hip replacement; knee replacement; and transcatheter aortic valve replacement. The evaluation also included data from Lehigh Valley Health Network Pediatrics and Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg in Allentown.
“(The) Lehigh Valley Health Network is extremely proud to provide the highest level of quality and safety in the care of our patients that has stood the test of time,” said Brian Nester, president and CEO of the health network , it’s a statement. “For more than 20 years, US News & World Report has consistently recognized the work of our dedicated and experienced colleagues at one level with the best providers across the country, and the level at which that care benefits our community. Going forward, we will continue to monitor, measure and improve how we partner with and serve our patients and the community to ensure they are as healthy as possible. ”
St. Luke’s University Hospital was also rated first in the Allentown region this year. It was rated high performance in five adult specialties and 10 procedures and conditions. Specialties included: geriatrics; nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics; pulmonology and pulmonary surgery. Procedure and conditions included: colon and lung cancer; heart failure, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, cardiac bypass surgery, and transcatheter aortic valve replacement; hip and knee replacement; lung cancer surgery and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The evaluation of St. Luke’s-Fountain Hill University Hospital also included data from the St Luke’s Allentown campus.
Donna Sabol, director of quality at St. Luke’s, said the network was pleased that Fountain Hill Hospital was the only hospital in the area rated “high performance” in all 10 procedures and conditions. Thirty-seven of more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide reached the high performance ranking in the top 10.
“This is a well-deserved recognition of St. Luke’s relentless focus on quality across the network,” said Sabol.
To be nationally classified in a specialty, a hospital had to excel in caring for the sickest and most medically complex patients. Only 134 hospitals out of more than 4,500 were nationally classified in a specialty, while 563 were ranked among the best regional hospitals in a state or metropolitan area. A hospital was ranked regionally based on its performance in providing complex and common care, says US News.
The rankings are jointly produced by US News and RTI International, a North Carolina-based research organization. US News Best Hospitals methodologies in most care areas are also largely based on objective measures such as risk-adjusted survival and rates of home discharge, volume and quality of nursing, among other indicators. related to care.
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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann can be contacted at [email protected].
