In its fourth edition, the America’s Best-in-State Hospitals 2027 ranking awards 800 leading hospitals across the United States. Developed in partnership by Statista and Newsweek, the ranking provides patients with a comprehensive resource to support informed health care decisions.
This year’s methodology includes several important updates. New hospital quality metrics and additional health care accreditations and certifications have been incorporated, alongside a greater emphasis on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). In addition, the eligibility criteria have been revised: only hospitals with an overall CMS star rating of three or higher are eligible for inclusion in the ranking.
The results include dedicated lists for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and are based on four core data pillars:
Hospital quality metrics: 50% of the total scoreHospital reputation: 28.5% of the total scorePatient experience: 15% of the total scorePROMs implementation: 6.5% of the total score
Below, the different data pillars are outlined.
1. Hospital quality metrics
Hospital quality metrics were drawn from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), accreditation data from recognized bodies and for the first time Leapfrog Hospital Safety and Quality Data.
The evaluation framework includes multiple components, each made up of distinct health care-related datasets:
CMS: Incorporates data from five different care categories related to mortality, safety of care, readmissions, timely and effective care, and patient-reported outcomes, offering a broad view of health care services.Leapfrog: Provides hospital safety and quality data from the 2026 Leapfrog Hospital Survey (v9.1), a voluntary, evidence-based annual assessment of U.S. hospitals. It covers patient safety, clinical quality, staffing, ethics, and outpatient care.Hospital accreditations and certifications: Recognizes quality through credentials from well-known organizations, such as:The Joint Commission (TJC)Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC)Planetree
2. Hospital reputation
From June to July 2026, Statista invited medical professionals (doctors, hospital managers and other health care professionals) to an online survey. In the survey, participants recommend leading hospitals within and outside their state (out-of-state recommendations are optional). Recommendations for one’s own employer are not allowed. Participants rate recommended hospitals in several quality dimensions on a scale of 1-10: Quality of care (45%), Patient counselling (25%), Accommodation and amenities (12.5%), Staffing (10%), and Organization and accessibility (7.5%).
These assessments, the number of recommendations, and the professional experience of the participant were used to determine the reputation score.
If you are also interested in participating in the online survey to evaluate hospitals’ reputation, please feel free to register here to be invited to take part in the next survey cycle.
3. Patient experience
Patient experience is incorporated through results from a survey conducted by Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS). Survey topics include: communication of the nurses/doctors, communication about medicines, cleanliness of the hospital, discharge information, quietness, hospital rating and willingness to recommend the hospital.
Hospitals with an outstanding performance in patient experience are additionally recognized with a patient experience award.
4. Proms implementation
In fall 2025, Newsweek and Statista conducted the PROMs implementation survey to determine the status of PROMs implementation, audits and reporting of the data, and whether PROMs data is used to optimize the care process and support therapeutic decisions in real-time. Up to five ribbons can be awarded based on the points accrued within this survey.
Download the methodology here.
Download the extended methodology here.
Disclaimer: The rankings are comprised exclusively of hospitals that are eligible regarding the scope described in this document. A mention in the ranking is a positive recognition based on peer recommendations and publicly available data sources at the time. The ranking is the result of an elaborate process which, due to the interval of data-collection and analysis, is a reflection of the last calendar year. Furthermore, events preceding or following the period 01/08/2025 – 01/08/2026 and/or pertaining to individual persons affiliated/associated to the facilities were not included in the metrics. As such, the results of this ranking should not be used as the sole source of information for future deliberations.
The information provided in this ranking should be considered in conjunction with other available information about hospitals or, if possible, accompanied by a visit to a facility. The quality of hospitals that are not included in the rankings is not disputed.
About Statista Healthcare
Statista Healthcare is a vertical business unit of Statista, the leading data and business intelligence portal provides an extensive collection of statistics, reports, and insights on over 80,000 topics from 22,500 sources in 170 industries.
Statista Healthcare is focused on making health care quality transparent, measurable, and comparable across countries, care settings, and specialties, thereby creating value for both providers and patients. We work with leading health care experts and stakeholders worldwide to support data-driven quality measurement and transformation by combining in-depth analytical expertise with scalable technology and communication power. Our offerings span international rankings, ratings, benchmarking studies, and customized projects. Our global health care rankings and hospital ratings are published in collaboration with leading media partners worldwide, enabling high visibility and credibility across markets. Learn more about Statista Healthcare: healthcare.statista.com.
About ICHOM
The International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM, www.ichom.org) is the leading non-profit dedicated to transforming health care by focusing on what truly matters to patients. They accomplish this by empowering patient and clinical leaders to standardize important clinical, quality of life, function and experience results for health care, and enabling transparent large-scale use to achieve patient-centric health system transformation. ICHOM’s standardized ‘sets’ of patient-centered outcomes measures help all actors in health care design, deliver and evaluate care based on outcomes that matter to patients. To date, ICHOM has developed 45 outcome measure sets for conditions. The sets are available in IT-ready interoperable formats and have been implemented in 500+ care settings in 42+ countries.