Rush Ranked Among Best Nationwide in Seven Specialties by U.S. News

U.S. News & World Report ranked seven specialty care programs at Rush University Medical Center among the best in the country in the annual “Best Hospitals” issue, published today. Rush’s orthopedics program was ranked fourth in the country and remains the highest-ranked orthopedics program in Illinois. The ear, nose and throat and nephrology (kidney disease) programs also are the highest ranked of these specialties in the state.

The following Rush programs were included in the rankings:

• Orthopedics — 4th
• Neurology and Neurosurgery — 11th
• Geriatrics — 14th
• Ear, Nose and Throat — 24th
• Kidney Disease (Nephrology) — 34th
• Gynecology — 36th
• Cancer — 49th

In addition to the national rankings in these seven programs, U.S. News gave Rush “High Performing” status in the following five programs: cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology and GI surgery; pulmonary care and urology. Rush Oak Park Hospital was given “High Performing” status in COPD and heart failure by U.S. News.

Rush remains among a small group of hospitals that ranked highly in multiple specialties. Only 158 of the more than 4,500 hospitals in the United States — about 3.5 percent — scored high enough for U.S. News to rank them nationally in even one specialty.

“This year’s recognition of both our nationally ranked and high-performing programs again shows that Rush’s excellence isn’t confined to a few areas, it’s widespread throughout Rush. Excellence is a fundamental aspect of the care we provide, and it’s also evident in our thriving research efforts,” said Dr. Larry Goodman, CEO of the Rush system and of Rush University Medical Center.

“We’ve achieved this high performance year after year because of the commitment of everyone at Rush to provide the highest quality care with compassion and sensitivity. That is how we define excellence.  I congratulate and thank everyone at the Medical Center for this recognition.”

Rankings the latest in steady stream of honors for Rush

The U.S. News rankings are the latest in a consistent stream of honors for Rush University Medical Center and the other Rush system hospitals that are unique among U.S. academic health systems, including the following recognitions:

• For the fourth consecutive time, all three Rush hospitals — Rush University Medical Center, Rush Oak Park Hospital and Rush Copley Medical Center — received an ‘A’ grade for safety, the highest possible, from the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit patient safety watchdog organization, in its latest round of its twice-yearly safety grades, which were announced in April.
• The Leapfrog Group also named Rush University Medical Center a Top Teaching Hospital (which is different from Leapfrog’s safety grade) in December.
• Rush University Medical Center and Rush Copley Medical Center each received five stars, and Rush Oak Park Hospital was awarded a four-star rating, in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ latest Hospital Compare overall rating in December.
• In September 2017, Rush University Medical Center was ranked fourth in the nation among 104 leading academic medical centers in the latest annual quality and accountability study conducted by Vizient Inc.
• Rush University Medical Center received its fourth consecutive Magnet designation, the highest honor in nursing, in January 2016, and Rush Oak Park Hospital received Magnet status in March of that year.
• In March, the Human Rights Campaign — a civil rights organization that advocates for equality for people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and/or queer/questioning — named Rush University Medical Center a Leader in LGBT Health Equality for the tenth consecutive year. The HRC also named Rush Oak Park Hospital a leader for the fifth consecutive year.
• Rush University Medical Center and Rush Oak Park Hospital both have received the Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award, which recognizes hospitals that provide an overall outstanding patient experience. Healthgrades evaluates patient experience performance by applying a scoring methodology to 10 patient experience measures, using data collected from the 32-question survey of the hospital’s own patients. Hospitals in the top 15 percent with the highest overall patient experience scores are recognized as Outstanding Patient Experience Award recipients.