U.S. News has shared its updated analysis of the top hospitals for pediatric cardiology care, using such attributes as patient outcomes, efficiency and available resources to reach its conclusions.
Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston is No. 1 on the list. The hospital works closely with Baylor College of Medicine and has been treating patients in the area since the 1950s. Meanwhile, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh came in at No. 2 and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles was No. 3.
The Best Children’s Hospitals for Cardiology and Heart Surgery ranking highlights the top 50 hospitals for pediatric cardiology care. According to U.S. News, the top 20 hospitals in this field are:
- Texas Children’s Hospital – Houston, Texas
- UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Children’s Hospital Los Angeles – Los Angeles, California
- Boston Children’s Hospital – Boston, Massachusetts
- Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health – Indianapolis, Indiana
- Children’s Hospital Colorado – Aurora, Colorado
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago – Chicago, Illinois
- Children’s Medical Center Dallas – Dallas, Texas
- MUSC Children’s Heart Network of South Carolina – Charleston, South Carolina / NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell – New York, New York (tie)
Taking COVID-19 into consideration
So how did COVID-19 affect these rankings? Data was collected before the pandemic even began, so there was no impact this year. The 2021 rankings, however, will likely be a different story. Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis for U.S. News, addressed this in a commentary previewing the full list.
“Various hospitals, grappling with COVID-19, have raised questions about whether we will alter our data collection and analysis methods next year, when our pediatric data set will cover a period affected by the pandemic,” he wrote. “Certainly, modifications are likely to be appropriate to account for the pandemic’s impact on measures we evaluate; we’re currently reviewing potential strategies where COVID-19 will affect the data. Over the next few months, we will initiate a dialogue on this topic with a wide range of hospitals, including children’s hospitals.”
The full list of hospitals can be read here. Additional rankings focused on pediatric care are available here.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.