Report pegs Johns Hopkins as top U.S. hospital

July 9, 1999
Web posted at: 4:52 p.m. EDT (2052 GMT)

In this story: The magazine's overall top 13 RELATED STORIES, SITES

(CNN) -- U.S. News & World Report has released its tenth annual ranking of the best hospitals in the United States and, for the ninth consecutive year, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore topped the chart. The Mayo Clinic was second, followed by Massachusetts General.

To make the elite list, hospitals had to "demonstrate unusual competence" in at least six of 16 specialties, according to the magazine's web site.

The magazine also ranked the best specialty hospitals:

To determine the ratings, the magazine randomly surveyed more than 2,000 board-certified specialists, asking them to name the best hospitals in their field, regardless of location or expense. It also used data regarding hospital mortality rates, technology and staffing. Much of the information came from annual surveys by the American Hospital Association.

This year, U.S. News & World Report ranked a total of 188 hospitals, 50 of which appear in most of the specialty lists.