MUSC Digestive Diseases, Rheumatology cited by U.S.News & World ReportThe MUSC Medical Center has been named by U.S.News & World Report as one of the country’s best hospitals in the categories of digestive diseases and rheumatology.The rankings will be published in the July 12 edition of U.S. News that will appear on newsstands July 5. This is the eighth consecutive year that MUSC’s Digestive Disease Center was named to the list. The standards for ranking in “Best Hospitals” are rigorous. Of 6,012 U.S. medical centers (military and veterans’ hospitals excluded), only 177, or fewer than 1 in 30, were of high-enough quality to be ranked in even a single specialty this year. In 12 of the 17 specialties, including digestive diseases, hospitals had to meet a series of progressively tougher standards to be ranked. To be considered at all, a hospital had to satisfy at least one of three requirements: membership in the Council of Teaching Hospitals, medical school affiliation, and availability of at least 9 out of 17 key technology-related services. Only 2,113 U.S. hospitals made it through this gate. For consideration in a specialty, a hospital had to perform a significant number of defined procedures—the number varied by specialty—in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Alternatively, a hospital had to be recommended by at least one physician in U.S. News surveys in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Hospitals making it this far received a numerical assessment. The U.S. News score equally weighs three elements: reputation, death rate, and care-related factors such as nursing and patient services. In five of the specialties, including rheumatology, hospitals were ranked only by reputation. Those cited were named by at least three percent of the specialists responding to U.S. News surveys in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Rankings can be found at http://www.usnews.com.
Friday, July 9, 2004
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