A new study by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations found that hospitals ranked as the “best” for heart care by U.S. News & World Report are among hundreds of hospitals across the country where patients can receive care that measures up to or exceeds the care provided in those facilities. The study, published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, compared the performance of 774 hospitals, 41 of which were listed among U.S. News & World Report’s 50 best heart and heart surgery hospitals. The hospitals were compared with each other using 10 measures that are based on clinical treatment guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.
The researchers found that 13 hospitals not in the magazine’s list of top performers did better in adhering to the treatment guidelines than any of the top 41 identified by U.S. News & World Report. Furthermore, when all 774 hospitals included in the study were ranked based on their adherence to specific evidence-based care practices, 313 nonranked hospitals did as well as the top half of hospitals ranked by the magazine.
