The results of the 2017 U.S. News & World Report survey of Best Children’s Hospitals are in, and Texas Children’s Hospital maintained the No. 4 ranking overall. The scores were exceptionally tight among the top children’s hospitals, but Texas Children’s is again listed on the honor roll.
“We’ve dedicated six decades to conducting innovative research and providing the most advanced treatments possible to children in need of specialized care,” said Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark Wallace. “Our pioneering culture, coupled with our commitment to quality, service and safety, have led us to become one of the nation’s premier pediatric hospitals and unquestionably the best in Texas.”
The teams within Texas Children’s Heart Center also received some big rankings news this morning – Texas Children’s is now ranked No. 1 in cardiology and congenital heart surgery. Ranked second in the nation for the past two years, Texas Children’s Heart Center has stepped into the No. 1 spot, surpassing Boston Children’s Heart Center, which had held the top ranking for the past 19 years.
Texas Children’s has 8 specialties ranked in the top 10 this year, and the hospital improved outcomes across all specialties. There are approximately 190 children’s hospitals in the U.S., and this year, U.S. News ranked the top 81 pediatric centers in 10 specialty areas, so being recognized within the top 10 is no small feat. Here are a few highlights of this year’s rankings for Texas Children’s:
- GI Surgery developed an advanced hepatology training program this year and added a fellow to the program, which helped move Gastroenterology and GI Surgery up to no. 4.
- Quality improvement drove excellent outcomes in Endocrine, which moved Diabetes and Endocrinology up to no. 6.
- Neonatology closed major gaps, had an overall improvement in unintended extubations, and over the last 3 years, had a 55 percent decrease in central line associated blood stream infections, moving neonatology up to no. 11.
- Orthopedics continued upward movement in the rankings and is now ranked no. 16.
The rankings are the result of a methodology that weighs a combination of outcome and care-related measures, such as nursing care, advanced technology, credentialing, outcomes, best practices, infection prevention, and reputation, among other factors.
“From a measurement perspective, our survey results demonstrate how hard we’re working as an organization to deliver high quality care to our patients,” Wallace said. “The more consistently we deliver high quality care and the safer we deliver that care to our patients, the better their outcomes are, and the better our overall numbers are.”
Texas Children’s 2017 U.S. News rankings
#1 Cardiology and heart surgery
#2 Pulmonology
#4 Cancer
#4 Gastroenterology and GI surgery
#4 Nephrology (kidney disorders)
#4 Neurology and neurosurgery
#6 Diabetes and endocrinology
#6 Urology
#11 Neonatology
#16 Orthopedics
Learn more about the U.S. News rankings here:
- U.S. News website: usnews.com/childrenshospitals
- Mark Wallace’s On the Mark blog: Strive for the outcomes, not the recognition
- The Journal of Texas Children’s Hospital’s in-depth feature: Improve care and the rankings follow
- Texas Children’s blog post: Texas Children’s Hospital and the U.S. News & World Report ranking survey – What’s it all about?