2 Washington Hospitals Among America’s Best: Money

WASHINGTON — Nearly everyone in will require hospital care at some point in their lives; however, knowing which hospitals provide the best, most affordable care can be confusing.

To aid in this decision, digital platform Money teamed up with The Leapfrog Group to compile its inaugural Best Hospitals In America list. Out of 6,000 hospitals in the nation, this year’s list spotlights 148 that consistently provide great care.

The hospitals on this year’s list span 29 states and fall into five different categories: general hospitals, children’s hospitals, rural hospitals, large teaching hospitals and small teaching hospitals.

Two hospitals in Western Washington are included on this year’s inaugural list: Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical Center and Lakewood’s St. Clare Hospital.

To select the best hospitals, Money and The Leapfrog Group used data from The Leapfrog Group’s Hospitals Survey, its Hospital Safety Grade assessment and public data sources.

For more than 20 years, The Leapfrog Group has evaluated hospitals on numerous criteria from ICU staffing to high-risk surgery outcomes to maternity care. Factors that weighed heavily in determining this year’s best hospitals were hospital infection rates, maternity care, pediatrics, medication management, hand hygiene practices, nursing workforce and critical care.

Read more about the methodology used to determine the inaugural Best Hospitals In America list.

California, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were the states with the greatest number of best hospitals. Each of these states had 10 or more hospitals that received the designation. Florida led the way with 26 top facilities.

>> See the full list of Best Hospitals In America.

Source: Bellevue Patch