U.S. News Ranks Duke Children's Among the Nation's Best
Duke Children's Hospital & Health
Center has once again been ranked as one of the nation's best in U.S. News & World Report's 2008 edition of America's Best
Children's Hospitals, published online at www.usnews.com/pediatrics
and in the magazine's June 9 issue, on newsstands Monday, June 2.
This year, Duke Children's Hospital & Health
Center ranked 14th in cancer care, 19th in neonatal care,
23rd in heart and heart surgery, 27th in general
pediatrics, and 28th in respiratory disorders.
"Very sick kids need very special care," said senior writer Avery Comarow, who has been editor of the America's Best Hospitals and America's Best Children's Hospitals annual rankings since their inception. "The best places for them are pediatric facilities with a deep pool of expertise in their particular illness. Breaking out key specialties is crucial to help parents and other caregivers find these facilities."
Survey methodology
The specialty rankings of this year's America's Best Children's Hospitals were based on a new and
improved methodology that weighed a three-part blend of reputation, outcome and
care-related measures such as nursing care, advanced technology, credentialing
and other factors. A detailed description of the methodology can be found
online at www.usnews.com/pediatrics.
Ranking-eligible facilities were largely drawn from members of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) in either of two categories -- a freestanding children's hospital or a children's "hospital within a hospital" (a large, multidisciplinary pediatric service within a medical center). In addition, several non-NACHRI members were added because of known expertise or at the recommendation of experts.
Of the 143 children's hospitals invited to complete a survey asking for information as detailed as whether a center offers postgraduate fellowships in pediatric cardiology, 113 responded. The survey was constructed by RTI International, which collects the data and oversees the methodology behind the adult Best Hospitals rankings.
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