The Cleveland Clinic, the Mayo Clinic, and Massachusetts General Hospital are among the top US hospitals in 2018 for a number of non-cancer conditions and procedures, according to Medscape's Physicians' Choice survey.
Hospitals can vary in the degree of expertise, innovation, and experience that they offer in treating certain conditions or performing lifesaving procedures. Physicians, who speak with other clinicians, go to conferences and read medical journals, are likely to have more knowledge about standout hospitals as well as a sense of where they themselves would go for medical care. Medscape surveyed its physician users for their opinions.
 |
Medscape identified 10 clinical conditions or procedures and asked, "Suppose you or someone in your family were diagnosed with a complex or difficult case of (condition). Assuming no barriers to treatment at the hospital you prefer, what hospital would you choose for treatment?"
A total of 11,549 US physicians (63% male) responded to the online survey between May 17 and August 13, 2018.
Physicians felt the most important factor in choosing a hospital (for non-cancer conditions) was having medically respected expertise (physician credentials, published outcomes), followed by a hospital's reputation among their colleagues.
Table. Physicians' Most Important Factors in Choosing Hospitals
| Medically respected expertise | 45% |
| Reputation among colleagues | 17% |
| A specific physician at the hospital | 12% |
| Leading technology available | 10% |
| Low error rates | 6% |
| Treatments/studies published in respected journals | 4% |
| Low infection rate | 3% |
| Participation in clinical trials | 2% |
| Readmission rates | 1% |
| Other | 1% |
Physicians' top three hospitals for cardiac conditions and for interventional cardiac surgery are the Cleveland Clinic (1), Mayo Clinic Hospital Methodist Campus (2), and Massachusetts General Hospital (3).
Cardiologists' top picks for those two categories are Brigham and Women's Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic Hospital Methodist Campus, and New York‒Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.
For all specialist categories, the rank order was not statistically significant. In those cases, the hospitals named most often are noted alphabetically instead of in rank order.
Physicians' top three hospitals for stroke care (in rank order) are Mayo Clinic Hospital Methodist Campus, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Cleveland Clinic. Stroke specialists favor these hospitals as well, and also cited New York‒Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center and the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Top three for hip replacement among physicians are the Hospital for Special Surgery, Mayo Clinic Hospital Methodist Campus, and the Cleveland Clinic. Specialists in hip replacement also favor these hospitals, plus New England Baptist Hospital and Rush University Medical Center.
For multiple sclerosis (MS): Mayo Clinic Hospital Methodist Campus, the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital. These are also favorites among MS specialists, as are the Cleveland Clinic and UCSF Medical Center Parnassus.
For spinal cord injury: Mayo Clinic Hospital Methodist Campus, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Physicians who specialize in spinal cord injury also like these hospitals as well as the Cleveland Clinic, the Hospital for Special Surgery, and the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
For advanced hepatitis C: Mayo Clinic Hospital Methodist Campus, the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital. These also make the hepatitis C specialists' list, as well as the Cleveland Clinic, Mount Sinai Medical Center, and the University of Miami Hospital.
For amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): Mayo Clinic Hospital Methodist Campus, the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital take the top three spots among all physicians. Physicians who specialize in ALS also favor these hospitals, as well as Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and New York‒Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic.
For infectious diseases: Mayo Clinic Hospital Methodist Campus (1), the Johns Hopkins Hospital (2), and Massachusetts General Hospital (3). These three were also mentioned most among infectious disease specialists.
For pediatric conditions: Boston Children's Hospital, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Texas Children's Hospital. Pediatricians add to this list the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Medscape Physicians' Choice: Top Hospitals for Cancer Treatment is available here.
Medscape Medical News © 2018
Cite this: New Survey Shows Physicians' Top Choices for US Hospitals 2018 - Medscape - Sep 19, 2018.
Comments