Northside Hospital Gwinnett in Duluth.
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | Much of my career was spent working with large hospital systems, some of the best in the nation.
Professionally, I found it difficult but not impossible to rank hospitals. One simple but reasonably reliable source for potential patients to use is the US News and World Report, which annually lists the best hospitals both nationally and within each state.
So, which facilities were the best in Atlanta? Here they are as rated by US News:
- Emory University;
- Emory St. Joseph;
- Piedmont Atlanta;
- Northside Atlanta;
- Emory Midtown;
- Wellstar Kennestone;
- Northside Forsyth;
- Northside Gwinnett (including both Lawrenceville and Duluth) and
- Piedmont Fayette.
It ranked Northside Hospital Gwinnett very highly (an excellent five of five possible) regarding treatment of heart attack/failure, colon cancer surgery, COPD, kidney failure, and hip/knee replacement.
However, Northside Hospital Gwinnett ranked average or below average regarding treatment for orthopedics, most cancer surgery, heart bypass surgery, lung surgery and ob/gyn.
Northside Hospital Gwinnett was also below average (two stars out of five) for patient experience. This was based on patient rankings of overall satisfaction with the hospital, MD communications and patient willingness to recommend the facility.
It should be noted that all rankings are by design, relative. Northside Hospital Gwinnett did perform much better than most Georgia facilities, being number 12 statewide.
US News also does national rankings by specialty area, as well as overall. Per that ranking, the top ten overall are: Mayo Clinic (Minn.); Cedars-Sinai (Calif.); NYU; Cleveland Clinic (Ohio); Johns Hopkins; UCLA; NY Presbyterian; Mass General; Northwestern and Stanford. These are perennially the best in the nation, per the magazine.
As every patient knows, there are many other factors in choosing a hospital for your care, factors that are not accounted for simply by looking at ratings. Where your physicians have privileges is another important factor. Plus, convenience is key for many patients. Where is the hospital versus where you live and where your family might reside?
And, then there is the expense factor. It’s expensive to be treated far from home. Further, for those on Medicare Advantage, HMOs and PPOs, their choice is restricted by the health insurance plan that they have, forcing them to either choose an in-network facility or pay a large out of pocket expense.
These rankings are but one factor in choosing your acute care provider. But every patient should understand why they are going to a particular hospital well before they become an in-patient.
One final note. Any ranking is only as good as the raters and rating system. US News and World Report uses data from 4,554 hospitals across the nation in coming up with rankings.
US News evaluates information on “16 adult medical specialties, 10 adult procedures or conditions and 10 pediatric specialties.” Ratings are based on quantitative data related to patient outcomes, primarily using Medicare data ,although information from the American Hospital Association and other professional sources are utilized.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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