HEALTHGRADES NAMES 2023 AMERICA'S BEST HOSPITALS

Healthgrades announces the highest performing hospitals in the U.S. for clinical excellence and names the top-ranked hospitals by state

DENVER, Jan. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthgrades, the #1 site Americans use to find a doctor or hospital, today announced the recipients of the 2023 America's Best Hospitals Awards and State Rankings. This year's achievements recognize the national leaders in overall clinical excellence and the top-ranked hospitals for specialty care by state.

Using proprietary data, Healthgrades simplifies the research process and empowers consumers to choose experienced doctors who practice at high-quality hospitals. To determine the top 250 U.S. hospitals, Healthgrades evaluated clinical performance for nearly 4,500 hospitals across more than 31 of the most common procedures and conditions. In tandem with the national recognition, Healthgrades measured the hospitals across 18 key specialty areas* to identify the highest-ranking hospitals in 32 eligible states. 

For America's Best, three awards recognize the top one, two, and five percent of hospitals nationwide for superior clinical performance:

• America's 50 Best Hospitals^™
• America's 100 Best Hospitals^™
• America's 250 Best Hospitals^™

"Healthgrades makes it easy for consumers to choose a doctor based on the three factors that matter most: compatibility, relevant experience, and the quality of the hospital where you'll be treated," said Burt Kann, EVP and Head of Product at Healthgrades. "With these awards, we are helping consumers identify the highest quality care in their community by celebrating the hospitals that consistently deliver better-than-expected clinical outcomes."

A recent Healthgrades survey revealed that 64% of consumers are more concerned with their health and wellness than they were before the pandemic, and more than half of Americans (57%) are more concerned with the quality of care provided by the doctors and hospitals they choose today. By making hospital performance more transparent, Healthgrades helps increasingly engaged consumers become informed healthcare customers. Ensuring that patients have access to objective measures of hospital performance is particularly important as the gap between the nation's highest and lowest performers persists. In fact, if all hospitals performed similarly to America's 250 Best Hospitals, 160,615 lives could have been saved.**

"Healthcare decisions are often complicated and fraught with emotion," said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Data Science at Healthgrades. "By giving consumers an easy-to-understand, data-driven way to identify the hospitals in their area with the best outcomes, Healthgrades is helping all patients – no matter their background – confidently choose higher quality care."

Health equity and social determinants of health (SDOH)—factors such as housing, food insecurity, transportation, and interpersonal safety—have a large impact on health outcomes, which is why Healthgrades will be incorporating health equity data, including SDOH medical codes and third-party data sets, into our hospital quality methodology by the end of 2023. Healthgrades believes that every patient has the right to high-quality, equitable health care, and including health equity metrics in our methodology is critical to improving our current risk-adjusted model and empowering patients to find the best possible care.

To view the complete list of America's Best Hospitals, click here. For more information on how Healthgrades determined this year's award recipients, see the complete methodology. To see the 2023 State Rankings recipients and methodology, click here. 

*The 18 specialty areas measured for the State Rankings recognition are as follows: Cardiac Care, Cardiac Surgery, Cardiology, Coronary Intervention (PCI), Cranial Neurosurgery, Critical Care, Gastrointestinal Care, Gastrointestinal Medical Care, Gastrointestinal Surgery, Joint Replacement, Neurosciences, Orthopedic Surgery, Prostate Surgery, Pulmonary Care, Spine Surgery, Stroke Care, Surgical Care, and Vascular Surgery.

**Statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of MedPAR data for years 2019 through 2021 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only. For more information, see the 2023 America's Best Hospital Awards Methodology. A consumer-friendly overview of the complete methodology is available here.

Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering stronger and more meaningful connections between patients and their healthcare providers. As the #1 platform for finding a doctor and a leader in healthcare transparency, we help millions of consumers each month find and schedule appointments with their healthcare professional of choice and prepare for their appointments with best-in-class, treatment-focused content.

Our health system, large group practice, and life sciences marketing solutions have been helping our partners reach and engage consumers who are on their way to the doctor for over 20 years.

Healthgrades is part of RVO Health, a partnership between Red Ventures and Optum, part of UnitedHealth Group. RVO Health has the largest consumer health and wellness audience online across its brand portfolio including Healthgrades, Healthline, Medical News Today, Greatist, Psych Central, Bezzy and Platejoy which touch every part of the health and wellness journey. Each month, RVO Health helps more than 100 million unique visitors live their strongest and healthiest lives.

SOURCE Healthgrades