The Best Hospitals section of USNews.com rates the performance of hospitals for adults and children.
U.S. News & World Report, L.P. (US News), a long-time publisher of a weekly news magazine, publishes the website. The company explains in detail the methodology it uses for its rankings and ratings.
Tips for use:
– The following instructions will help with locating information more quickly among the many advertisements on the website.
– US News explains that its specialty rankings are for “care that poses unusual technical challenges or a significantly increased risk of death or complications,” while its ratings are for common conditions and procedures. The national rankings cover 15 medical specialties at hospitals for adults and 11 specialties at hospitals for children.
– To see specialty rankings, on the Best Hospitals home page select the specialty from the dropdown menu without specifying a hospital name or location.
– To see procedures and conditions ratings, on the Best Hospitals home page select the name of a hospital or a location along with a procedure/condition.
– Regional Rankings take into account both specialty rankings and procedure/condition ratings.
– Summary of methodology: Hospitals are rated on a scale of 0 to 100 for each specialty. Depending on the specialty, US News ranks nationally the top 50 hospitals or the top dozen or so hospitals. It lists hospitals as “high-performing” if they score within the top 10% of hospitals evaluated but do not receive a national rank. For the procedure and condition ratings, US News describes hospitals as high-performing, average or below average. On the page for a hospital, click See Scorecard for details and statistics about that hospital’s rankings and/or ratings.
Reviewed October 2025