Families in the D.C. region searching for specialized pediatric care have a familiar name near the top of this year\u2019s U.S. News & World Report rankings of the nation\u2019s best children\u2019s hospitals.<\/p>\n
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Children\u2019s National Hospital in the District earned a place on U.S. News\u2019 \u201cHonor Roll,\u201d which recognizes hospitals that perform at a high level across multiple pediatric specialties. The hospital also tied for the top spot in the Mid-Atlantic region alongside Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia and UPMC Children\u2019s Hospital of Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was nationally ranked in all 11 specialties that we evaluate,\u201d Jennifer Winston, a health data scientist at U.S. News said. \u201cIt was in the top 10 for neurology and neurosurgery, neonatology, diabetes and endocrinology and cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other regional hospitals also performed well.<\/p>\n
\u201cInova L.J. Murphy Children\u2019s Hospital in Falls Church was ranked No. 3 in Virginia and No. 16 in the Mid-Atlantic,\u201d Winston said. \u201cJohns Hopkins [Children\u2019s] Center in Baltimore is ranked No. 1 in Maryland and No. 4 in the Mid-Atlantic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The annual rankings are designed to help parents and physicians make decisions about complex medical care for children with serious illnesses or rare conditions.<\/p>\n
To produce the rankings, U.S. News & World Report said it collects clinical data from more than 100 children\u2019s hospitals and surveys pediatric specialists nationwide. It said scores are based largely on quality and outcomes measures, including survival rates, patient safety, infection prevention, nurse staffing and other hospital resources. Hospitals are then ranked across 11 pediatric specialties.<\/p>\n
According to Winston, the rankings evaluate hospitals based on resources, care delivery and clinical outcomes<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first is hospital resourcing, and that includes availability of staffing, technical and special resources for each specialty, delivery of healthcare, and that includes programs to prevent infection and promote best practices, and one that is particularly important to us and to parents and hospitals is clinical outcomes,\u201d Winston said.<\/p>\n Since the rankings began two decades ago, U.S. News has expanded its evaluation to include children\u2019s hospitals nationwide across 11 specialties. The latest edition<\/a> also includes evaluations by specialty, state and region, plus pediatric and adolescent behavioral health programs.<\/p>\n