Looking for more information about how Forbes Top Hospitals was produced and how it can be used as a resource? These questions and answers provide details and offer access to the full methodology.
Healthcare quality can vary dramatically among hospitals. The differences between high-quality facilities and low-quality facilities can substantially impact health outcomes. But it’s not always clear to patients which hospitals are more likely to deliver effective, timely and high-quality care.
In fact, it has become increasingly difficult for many patients to navigate the United States healthcare system.saw a need for high-caliber, user-friendly information about hospitals, and—given that the field of healthcare quality measurement has become more sophisticated in recent years—recognized the opportunity to harness rich healthcare data and synthesize it for users. The result: our inauguralThese ratings have been designed to evaluate general acute care hospitals in the U.S. and be used as a resource for patients to find hospitals that can offer top-notch, high-value medical services, no matter where they are in the country. And because ouris independent, verifiable and accessible, hospitals can use the findings to assess their performance in comparison to that of their peers.that serves the best interests of consumers and hospitals. To identify and recognize the top hospitals across the country using statistically validated data that is driven by outcomes. To enable hospitals to compare their performance with their peers’ performance and use this information to improve their systems and healthcare quality for their communities.hospital ratings are transparent, account for socioeconomic and demographic factors impacting healthcare, and are based on objective indicators of outcomes, best practices, value and patient experience.worked with John Bott, M.S.S.W., M.B.A., a professional with 25 years of experience in healthcare performance measurement, who has worked in the field from multiple vantage points. While at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the health services research arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bott developed and improved performance measures and facilitated their endorsement through the national consensus process. While employed by the State of Wisconsin, he evaluated and publicly reported healthcare performance for the state’s employer-sponsored health insurance plans. At, he curated hospital patient quality and safety ratings from the consumer perspective. Bott currently serves as a technical expert for the CMS Hospital Compare Star Ratings Panel, the CMS Patient Safety Measure Development and Maintenance Panel, and the Partnership for Quality Measurement’s Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review Hospital Recommendations Committee. Previously, he served as a member of the National Quality Forum’s Consensus Standards Approval Committee, and NQF’s Scientific Methods Panel.assembled the Forbes Top Hospitals Advisory Panel, comprised of quality measurement experts, clinicians, scientists, health policy researchers, hospital administrators and patient advocates. This panel scrutinized the methodology and provided critical feedback, which, also a member of Forbes Top Hospitals Advisory Panel) brings decades of experience in healthcare research , advanced analytics, database development and statistical analyses. Inovalon’s data warehouse of social drivers of health was also incorporated into our methodology to adjust for socioeconomic factors known to impact health outcomes.unique approach to hospital ratings: The healthcare quality measures selected for our analysis have been vetted extensively and deemed reliable to use for hospital-level comparisons.recognizes that a hospital quality rating system can only be as credible as the data and measures that go into it. For this reason,. These publicly reported measures—which serve as proxies for healthcare performance—have undergone a rigorous national review process that includes testing and input from stakeholders in the healthcare community, ranging from research scientists and clinicians to hospital administrators and patient advocates. Measures that have been established through this process are considered reliable and valid metrics for assessing the degree to which a hospital’s medical services were delivered efficiently, effectively, safely and equitably—while providing high-quality care.The ratings account for social drivers of health in a meaningful way. Societal and environmental factors have been shown toin the communities surrounding each hospital, which was formulated to provide a more level comparison of hospital quality despite differences between any given hospital’s location and patient population.The quality measures used to produce our hospital ratings are drawn from the publicly reported measures in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Provider Data Catalog , as noted above. Butvetted the PDC measure set further and narrowed it to include the measures that were determined to be the most reliable and statistically sound. Our choice of measures was also intended to achieve a balanced representation of different types of hospital quality measures, which we categorized into four pillars :. Additionally, the members of Forbes Top Hospitals Advisory Panel shared insights about the measures. Ultimately, this process led to the selection of our final set of 56 measures.facilitated by the Centers For Medicare & Medicaid have discussed questions about why large hospitals often score lower than small hospitals. After substantial analyses and public debate, CMS decided to address this issue bytested our initial rating results for any correlation between those initial ratings and hospital size—and, indeed, we determined that there was. To mitigate this bias,grouped all hospitals into one of four categories and recalculated the star ratings accordingly.The primary source of data used to calculate Forbes Top Hospitals 2026 was the Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Provider Data Catalog released on April 30, 2025. This dataset incorporated measure results that were reported over various periods of time , but, in general, much of the hospital data used is based on 2023 and 2024 measurement periods. 7. What role should Forbes Overall Hospital Quality Ratings play in choosing a specific provider for care? Forbes Top Hospitals ratings are not medical advice. They can assist people in learning about different providers, but the ultimate choice for care should be made by the patient or their loved ones in consultation with their medical provider. In any emergency, call 911.A Forbes Top Hospital designation indicates that a hospital stood out among its peers across the range of healthcare quality measures included in our methodology. Only 30% of the 2,544 hospitals we rated earned this designation. But because a hospital’s performance often varies depending on the clinical unit and type of healthcare services offered, it’s possible that a Forbes Top Hospital may perform exceptionally well in many areas of care, but less well in others. To see a hospital’s performance on a more granular level, you can view its ratings in each pillar along with each pillar’s corresponding measures. Each hospital’s profile page based on the framework of our methodology; therefore, their performance was not assessed.The majority of hospitals on the Top Hospitals list are general acute care hospitals, which tend to treat a wide range of common conditions and urgent, short-term medical needs, including: the management of emergencies and injuries , serious conditions , surgical care , and childbirth. Most specialty hospitals did not qualify for assessment based on our methodology, as noted above. That said, general acute care hospitals may still be good options for specialty care. In fact, many highly-skilled specialists have privileges at general or community hospitals, and many of Forbes Top Hospitals offer excellent care in various specialties. Still, if you’re seeking a specialist, consider consulting other trusted sources, such as your primary care physician, for a referral. 10. Why do some hospitals on the Forbes Top Hospitals list rate better or worse in other hospital rating systems? Each hospital rating system has a specific approach to measurement. For instance, one rating system may focus on patient safety and limit its methodology to healthcare quality measures related to safety. Another rating system may focus on the cost of care and place more weight on healthcare measures related to payment and the use of resources. A variety of datasets can be used as the basis for hospital ratings, yielding different results. In other words, there is no singular way to rate healthcare services. Ratings can be derived from a wide range of metrics, data sources, methodologies and priorities.has leaned into the contemporary science of healthcare performance measurement, from data selection to peer grouping. The result is a rating system that is driven by empirical analyses. 11. To what extent are the measures included in the Forbes Top Hospitals methodology based on Medicare data from patients 65 and over? Of the 56 measures that comprise Forbes Top Hospitals ratings, half are derived from the Medicare population, while the other half are derived from all patients. Nevertheless,12. It seems that hospitals with sicker patients or more complex cases might perform worse on different measures. Do the ratings account for this? Yes. Of the 56 measures mentioned above, the 25 measures related to “outcomes” and the 14 related to “patient experience” have already undergone analysis to account for patient comorbidities and other factors., reviewed, and used to reproduce the ratings. Because healthcare quality measurement is a science, our aim is to ensure that the ratings are transparent, verifiable and replicable. Further,welcomes your feedback. If you have questions or suggestions regarding the methodology, please email TopHospitals forbes.com.lists, there is no fee to participate or be selected. The ratings and list were based solely on the data and methodology, with no influence from hospitals, advertisers or other financial relationships.
FAQ On Forbes Top Hospitals In America Inovalon Top-Quality Healthcare Top-Quality Hospitals Unbiased How To Find A Good Hospital
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Forbes Business CouncilEddy Azad's stories.
Read more »
By The Numbers: Meet The Forbes Under 30 Class Of 2026A look behind the statistics of the 2026 Under 30 List—from $3.8 billion in funding to 200 million fans online.
Read more »
Spotify Wrapped 2025 Is Out: Bad Bunny Is Top Global Artist, Top Album Stats Finally AddedSpotify added new features to its Wrapped package after the 2024 iteration was criticized by fans as its “worst” effort ever.
Read more »
Forbes Top Hospitals FAQLooking for more information about how Forbes Top Hospitals was produced and how it can be used as a resource? These questions and answers provide details and offer access to the full methodology.
Read more »
Forbes Top Hospitals 2026Introducing our inaugural Forbes Top Hospitals list. Developed with measurement experts, clinicians, health policy researchers and patient advocates, the ratings showcase hospitals offering top-quality care.
Read more »
Forbes Top Hospitals 2026: Methodology SummaryBehind the numbers: Learn how Forbes produced our first-ever list of Top Hospitals. This data-driven rating system showcases hospitals across the United States focused on outcomes, value, patient safety, and more.
Read more »