Healthgrades names America's 100 Best Hospitals for 2016; See the winners

Photo by Wally Gobetz

Healthgrades, an online resource for information about physicians and hospitals, has named America's 50 and 100 Best Hospitals for 2016.

Compared with all other hospitals, the 100 Best Hospitals had an overall 26.5 percent lower risk-adjusted, in-hospital mortality rate across the 19 procedures and conditions where mortality is the measured outcome.

Specifically, the hospitals that are among the 100 Best are in the top 2 percent in the country for consistent clinical excellence, having received a Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence for at least the last three years consecutively.

[Also: Healthgrades names 260 facilities as Distinguished Hospitals for safety, quality; See the list]

Recipients of the 50 Best Hospitals Award, meanwhile, have achieved the Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence for at least six consecutive years, placing them in the top 1 percent in the nation.

"From 2012-2014, if all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to hospitals achieving Healthgrades 2016 America's 100 Best Hospitals Award, more than 170,000 lives could potentially have been saved," Healthgrades said in a statement.

Evan Marks, Healthgrades' chief strategy officer, urged consumers to "do their homework" when selecting a hospital, especially as it relates to emergency conditions, "since hospitals do not perform equally."

[Also: 1 out of 6 patients visit low-ranked hospitals, putting lives at risk, Healthgrades says]

Statistics released by Healthgrades indicate that the hospitals on its list outperform others in terms of care and treatment for ailments often cited as reasons for emergency visits. For example, Sixty-three percent of the 100 Best Hospitals had a five-star rating -- statistically representing a much lower mortality rate -- for the treatment of heart attack compared to only 12 percent for all other hospitals.

Similarly, 60 percent of hospitals on the list had a five-star rating for the treatment of stroke compared to 13 percent for all other hospitals; 80 percent had a five-star rating for the treatment of pneumonia (14 percent for all others); and 46 percent had a five-star rating for the treatment of COPD compared (6 percent for the rest).

[Also: How many hospitals earned a Leapfrog and Healthgrades safety award? 142, that's all]

During the study period from 2012 to 2014, the 50 and 100 Best Hospitals showed strong performance in clinical outcomes for Medicare patients across at least 21 of 32 of the most common inpatient conditions and procedures. The performance was measured by objective performance data, such as risk-adjusted mortality and in-hospital complications.

Here is the full list of winners, searchable by name, city and state:

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