Report: CHOP Still One of the Best Children’s Hospitals in the U.S.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Photo by Jeff Fusco.

U.S. News and World Report once again confirms that the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is one of the best pediatric hospitals in the country.

This year’s rankings, released Tuesday morning, place CHOP at number two on the list of the Best Children’s Hospitals, behind Boston Children’s Hospital for the second consecutive year.

In previous years, CHOP and Boston Children’s have been the main contenders for the top spot. The two hospitals tied for first place on the annual list in 2012 and in 2013, CHOP took first place.

Rankings were determined using survey-derived clinical data from 183 hospitals, and the researchers say they also asked more than 10,000 pediatric specialists where they would send the sickest children in their specialty.

CHOP also made the Best Children’s Hospitals Honor Roll, which recognizes those hospitals with the highest rankings in at least three of ten specialties, including:

• Cancer,
• Cardiology & Heart Surgery,
• Diabetes & Endocrinology,
• Gastroenterology & GI Surgery,
• Neonatology,
• Nephrology,
• Neurology & Neurosurgery,
• Orthopedics,
• Pulmonology
• and Urology.

This year, 11 children’s hospitals in total made the honor roll and 78 children’s hospitals were ranked in at least one of the pediatric specialties evaluated. CHOP ranked number one for Diabetes & Endocrinology and in second or third place in Cancer, Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Gastroenterology & GI Surgery, Neonatology, Neurology & Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, and in Urology.

U.S. News says it began ranking children’s hospitals in 2007 because they found that the typical hospital, which mostly serves adults, might not adequately provide care for children who face life-threatening disease. The list is a means for giving families a start at finding hospitals with doctors for children that have expertise in a given specialty.

The Best Children’s Hospitals 2016-’17 methodology report states that scores are based on the hospital’s structure (the resources it has directly related to patient care), process (the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and patient education), and outcomes (a patient’s survival and also functional success).

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