UAB Hospital
UAB Hospital tops the list of best hospitals in Alabama again, according to U.S. News & World Report.
(Photography: Steve Wood) has again been named the best hospital in Alabama by U.S. News & World Report. Eight adult specialties are ranked among the best in the nation, seven within the top 30 and one ranked 31st. The magazine also notes UAB Hospital as “high-performing” in 14 of 17 assessed adult procedures/conditions in the 2021-2022 Best Hospital rankings, released today.
Ranked programs include gynecology at No. 7 and rheumatology at No. 10. Other ranked specialties are rehabilitation, ranked for the first time at No. 22; ear, nose and throat at No. 25; cancer at No. 27; cardiology/heart surgery at No. 29; geriatrics at No. 30; and pulmonology/lung surgery at No. 31. U.S. News no longer ranks nephrology programs as of this year; UAB’s nephrology program was ranked at No. 29 last year. Two programs, neurology/neurosurgery and gastroenterology/GI surgery, were classified as high-performing.
“The past year has been extremely challenging in health care due to the stresses of the worldwide pandemic, so it is especially gratifying to see that U.S. News & World Report again recognizes UAB Medicine as the leading health care institution in the state of Alabama and one of the finest in the nation,” said Reid Jones, CEO of UAB Medicine. “It is a testament to the quality of care delivered every day by our faculty and staff, and the continued excellence of our innovative therapies, groundbreaking research and outstanding patient care.”
U.S. News also rates hospitals in 17 adult procedures/conditions. UAB Hospital was rated as “high performing,” the highest classification, in 14: abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, acute kidney failure, aortic valve surgery, COPD, colon cancer surgery, diabetes, heart attack, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, lung cancer surgery, pneumonia, spinal fusion, stroke, and transcatheter aortic valve replacement or TAVR.
The Best Hospitals specialty rankings assess hospital performance in 15 specialties or specialty areas. In 12 of these, rankings are determined by an extensive data-driven analysis combining performance measures in three primary dimensions of health care: structure, process/expert opinion, and outcomes. In the three other specialties, ranking relies solely on expert opinion.
The structural measures include hospital volume, nurse staffing and other resources that define the hospital environment. The data source for most structural measures is the American Hospital Association Annual Survey. Additional resources include the National Cancer Institute’s list of NIH-designated cancer centers and the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s roster of Nurse Magnet hospitals.