Rush University Medical Center has once again been named one of the nation’s top hospitals in a number of specialties in the upcoming issue of U.S.News & World Report. Rush is ranked among the best in 11 of 16 categories included in the magazine’s annual “America’s Best Hospitals” issue, which will be on sale Tuesday, July 27.

Just 152 of 4,852 hospitals in the United States, about 3 percent, scored high enough this year to rank in even a single specialty, according to the magazine.

Rush is ranked higher than any other program in Illinois in Orthopedics, at #10 in the nation.  Rush is also ranked higher than any other program in Illinois in Geriatrics, at #22 in the nation.

The rankings of other Rush programs are: Neurology and Neurosurgery, #14; Heart and Heart Surgery, #25; Ear, Nose and Throat, #32; Gastroenterology (Digestive Disorders), #35; Gynecology, #41; Urology, #41; Cancer, #43; Kidney Disorders, #43; and Pulmonology #49.

“Rush continues to do great work in a broad spectrum of categories, and these rankings are representative of the outstanding quality of care provided at Rush,” said Dr. Larry J. Goodman, president and CEO, Rush University Medical Center. “Rush has earned its place among the top academic medical centers in America.”

Now in its 21st year, the 2010-11 “America’s Best Hospitals” guide is the most extensive hospital ranking to date.  According to U.S.News & World Report, the purpose of the “America’s Best Hospitals” ranking is to guide patients “who need an unusually high level of hospital care.” Hospitals are judged not in routine procedures but in complex and demanding situations, often with high-risk patients, such as replacing a 90-year-old’s heart valve, diagnosing and treating a spinal tumor, and dealing with inflammatory bowel disease.  

According to the magazine’s editors, “High-stakes medicine calls for more than the usual brand of doctoring. When the stakes are high, you want the best care you can get for someone close to you. These are hospitals that are accustomed to seeing the sickest patients, day in and out.”

The rankings in 11 of the 16 specialties are predominantly driven by hard data. There are four components: reputation, death rate, patient safety and a set of care-related factors such as nursing and patient services. To be considered at all for the 12 data-driven specialties, a hospital had to meet at least one of three requirements: be a teaching hospital; have at least 200 beds; or have at least 100 beds plus at least four of eight key medical technologies such as current-generation CT scanners and precision radiation therapy.

Next, the hospitals had to meet a volume requirement, individually calculated for each specialty. The required volume was the number of Medicare inpatients from 2006 to 2008 who had various specified procedures and conditions in the specialty. A hospital that fell short could still qualify if it had been nominated by at least one physician in any of the U.S.News "Best Hospitals" reputational surveys conducted for 2008, 2009 and 2010.

In the four other specialties — ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation, and rheumatology — ranking is based solely on reputation derived from physician surveys from the most recent three years.

The 2010 rankings were produced by RTI International, a leading research organization based in Research Triangle Park, N.C.