U.S. News and World Report is a publication well known for its rankings of schools and hospitals. This is both wildly popular and wildly contentious, since the ranking formulas are so varied (and often somewhat proprietary to the organization giving them). That said, it’s still impressive to see how well Washington State hospitals match up against others. We have a lot to be proud of.
You can see the rankings here: http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/wa
The U.S. News rankings acknowledges a key point that WSHA has long stated about quality scores: they should only just be a starting point. From the website: “Patients still have to do their own research and talk with their doctors. We also understand that families have to consider such factors as the stress and expense of travel and lodging in another city and their insurer’s willingness to pay for care if a hospital is out of network.”We hope that these rankings help patients learn more about quality and learn more about what they can do to improve their outcomes. Navigating the health care system can be intimidating, but a little self-education can go a long way.
Like most other rankings, including the star rankings from CMS, these are heavily dependent on hospital quality information that is already publicly available. Washington State hospitals have long supported the public’s access to that data and we also make it available on www.WAHospitalQuality.org— along with questions that patients can ask their providers. (Mary Kay Clunies-Ross)
