photo credit: http://www.not-normal-media.co.uk
Most hospitals and medical schools pay attention to the rankings published by U.S. News and World Report, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and more recently the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. While there is debate about the criteria used to generate these rankings, it is clear that top ranked institutions fare better in the war for talent and in research funding. Moreover, the public is increasingly aware of these “scorecards.” There are upsides and downsides to using these rankings (see article, entitled Rankings¹) and we would like your thoughts about the following:
- Are the criteria used to rank our institutions in patient care, research and patient satisfaction the right ones?
- How do we prevent people from “gaming” the system to enhance their position?
- How do we ensure reliable information so people can make good choices?
-Chip Souba, MD, ScD, MBA
VP and Executive Dean of Health Sciences
Dean, College of Medicine
The Ohio State University
¹This article was published in Journal of Surgical Research, Souba WW. (2008). Rankings. 148 (2), 109-13. Copyright Elsevier. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00224804
