'U.S.
News' Ranks Emory Hospital Among Nation's Best Hospitals in Five Specialties
ATLANTA -- U.S.
News & World Report has named Emory University Hospital one of America's
Best Hospitals in five medical specialties including cardiology, where
Emory is again included in the top 10 for the 12th time since the magazine's
Best Hospital rankings began in 1990.
This year, Emory's program
in heart and heart surgery finished 8th, just behind the Texas Heart
Institute in Houston, and a whisker ahead of Stanford University Hospital
in California. Emory's heart program was the only one in Georgia included
in the nation's top 50.
Also included in the rankings
this year were Emory's programs in eyes (13th), psychiatry (17th), kidney
disease (21st), and urology (35th). Each of those programs were the
only ones in Georgia listed in their specialty areas.
Emory Hospitals CEO John
D. Henry, Sr., FACHE, notes that "Emory Hospitals' consistent presence
in these rankings, as well as rankings compiled by other organizations,
is indicative of our intense commitment to clinical excellence, physician/patient
education and development of clinical tools and techniques that will
be used for years to come."
"We are delighted that the
Emory Heart Center has been recognized once again as one of the most
important cardiology centers in the country. The U.S. News and World
Report ranking is particularly meaningful because it is a reflection
of our standing among our medical peers," says Douglas C. Morris, MD,
Director of the Emory Heart Center.
"This confirms that our hard
work has paid off in not only maintaining our ranking but in improving
our stature as one of the country's best heart centers. Most importantly,
we believe it helps get the word out to patients and referring physicians
that Emory continues to be nationally recognized, year after year, for
our outstanding performance as a caring, innovative and highly experienced
center for the full spectrum of cardiology care."
The programs in eye care
and psychiatry were ranked strictly on the basis of professional reputation,
based on a survey of 180 randomly selected, board-certified physicians
who were asked to name the top 5 programs in their specialty.
Thirteen of the 17 specialty
areas ranked by U.S. News were assessed on a quality-of-care index that
assigned equal weight to reputation, patient mortality (based on Medicare
data), and a mix of other factors including the ratio of registered
nurses to beds and the presence of various technology services. In eye
care, psychiatry, and two other disciplines, rehabilitation medicine
and pediatrics, mortality data are either not available (pediatrics)
or are largely irrelevant, the magazine explains.
The 205 top medical centers
named in the rankings this year were culled from an initial pool of
6,045. They represent hospitals that are members in the Council of Teaching
Hospitals, are affiliated with a medical school, or have advanced medical
technology. Because of that, they tend to be centers where very ill
patients will get the benefit of physicians doing a large volume of
procedures in complex cases, following the most advanced treatment guidelines,
and incorporating the latest research findings in their practice, the
magazine says.
"To be recognized again as
one of America's Best Hospitals is an outstanding tribute not only to
our faculty physicians but also to our nurses, medical technologists,
and support staff across the board," says Michael M.E. Johns, M.D.,
executive vice president for health affairs and chairman of Emory Healthcare.
He noted that although the rankings specifically apply to Emory University
Hospital, the rankings reflect Emory's strengths across the Emory Healthcare
system. All physicians who admit patients to Emory University Hospital
are members of The Emory Clinic and a majority are also on the medical
staffs of Emory Crawford Long Hospital and Wesley Woods Geriatric Hospital.
Emory Hospitals include Emory
University Hospital, a 587-bed hospital located on the Emory University
campus in northeast Atlanta; Emory Crawford Long Hospital, Emory's 583-bed,
community-based hospital in Midtown; and Wesley Woods Geriatric Hospital,
a 100-bed hospital located on the Emory campus. Emory Hospitals are
components of Emory Healthcare, the most comprehensive health care system
in Atlanta. Other components of Emory Healthcare include The Emory Clinic,
the Emory Children's Center, the jointly owned Emory-Adventist Hospital,
and EHCA, LLC, a limited liability company created in collaboration
with HCA.
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