Contact: Wallis Ronchetti
843.792.3621
July 12, 2002
CHARLESTON, SC -- The MUSC Medical Center is one of the nation's best hospitals in the treatment of digestive disorders, according to "U.S. News and World Report."
The rankings will be published in the magazine's July 22 issue, which will be on the newsstands July 15.
This is the sixth straight year that MUSC's digestive disease service was named to the list. It is ranked number 14 out of the total of 50 hospitals that the magazine listed as being top facilities in the country.
Since 1990, U.S. News has identified medical centers with unique capabilities in one or more areas. This year, the magazine sifted data from 6,045 hospitals to arrive at 205 stellar centers in 17 specialties. To be ranked, a hospital first must either belong to the Council of Teaching Hospitals, be affiliated with a medical school, or have at least nine technology services out of a prescribed list of 17. That narrowed the field to 1,958 this year.
Eligibility for ranking in 13 of the 17 specialties, including digestive diseases, depends on performing a specified number of defined procedures during the past four years for which data is available or being named by at least one physician in U.S. News surveys during the past four years. Hospitals that meet these requirements receive a score, or U.S. News Index, that combines reputation, mortality, and a group of other factors related to patient care, such as nursing and technology. The 50 hospitals with the highest scores in each of the 13 specialties appear in this issue.
#####