USC-affiliated hospitals placed among the top in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s 14th annual rankings of “America’s Best Hospitals” in the magazine’s July 28 issue.
The rankings, categorized by medical specialty, list USC-affiliated hospitals in four categories. Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) ranked 12th in pediatrics, Doheny Eye Institute ranked seventh in ophthalmology, Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center 11th in rehabilitation services and USC University Hospital 37th in gynecology.
The rankings published by U.S. News & World Report, are handled independently by a company in Chicago, National Opinion Research Center (NORC).
To be eligible for ranking in any of the 17 specialties ranked this year, a hospital had to be affiliated with a medical school, be a member of the Council of Teaching Hospitals, be affiliated with a medical school or achieve a score of at least nine on a scale of available hospital technology. NORC obtains most of the rankings data from the American Hospital Association’s annual survey of members.
For all specialties except ophthalmology, pediatrics, psychiatry and rehabilitation (which are ranked solely on reputation), eligibility for ranking also depended on performing a certain number of specific procedures during the past three years for which data are available, or on being identified by at least one physician in U.S. News surveys during the past three years. The survey model combines AHA data, mortality rates and a reputational score compiled over the past three years obtained by surveying 150 to 180 board certified physicians per specialty each year.