As the former head of digital at Massachusetts General Hospital and Tufts Medical Center—and inspired by last year’s Cincinnati Children’s Hospital dethroning of Boston Children’s—I’ve been reflecting on the way hospitals are ranked. This achievement has me thinking about the current system, like the US News & World Report rankings, which has been contested for bias, ambiguous methodology, and concealed financing. Despite a shift away from expert opinion towards more objective measures, the debate on hospital rankings is far from settled.
Conventionally, rankings consider patient outcome data, infection rates, and patient volume. But what if we pushed beyond the traditional parameters? What if we contemplated factors that, although intangible, are incredibly valuable to the communities hospitals serve? What if the very individuals who frequently engage with hospitals—the patients—were the main drivers behind the ranking system for hospitals?
The concept? A “Community-Sourced Hospital Ranking System.” A system that leans on critical indicators often overlooked in current methodologies, yet imperative from a patient’s viewpoint. Here’s how this new system of hospital rankings could be structured:
- Convenience & Accessibility: Includes factors like appointment scheduling, wait times, parking, in-hospital navigation, public transportation links, and digital ease-of-use.
- Kindness & Empathy: Focuses on the personal touch in healthcare, evaluating compassion and empathy shown by hospital staff.
- Communication & Transparency: Assesses clarity in provider-patient communication about conditions, procedures, risks, and alternatives, and transparency in billing.
- Community Engagement: Measures a hospital’s role within its community, including local involvement, partnerships, and efforts to improve public health.
These pillars could be gauged through patient surveys, social media sentiment analysis, and publicly accessible feedback channels. Thus, hospitals would be assessed on how well they genuinely serve their communities.
However, the equation isn’t complete without some objective, data-driven parameters, including commitment to best practices, equity, diversity, inclusion, and primary care quality. This balance between community-based and objective measures promises a comprehensive assessment of hospital performance and hospital rankings.
Us healthcare marketers, along with our agency partners, can manage the Community-Sourced Hospital Ranking System. Thanks to our digital prowess and deep healthcare industry knowledge, we can efficiently collect, analyze, and present data from numerous sources. Our track record of creating user-friendly digital platforms enables us to build an intuitive public portal for contributing to and viewing hospital rankings. And our strategic marketing expertise ensures this innovative, community-centered system receives broad visibility and engagement.
By spearheading this initiative, we could give a platform for communities to share their healthcare experiences and requirements, fostering a more patient-centric healthcare landscape.
It’s time for a paradigm shift in how we rank hospitals. By introducing a Community-Sourced Hospital Ranking System, we can refocus on what truly matters to patients and their families. It’s time to place patients and communities at the heart of the hospital ranking process. It’s time to let those served by hospitals become their ultimate judges.
Who’s ready to join me on this journey? Let’s make healthcare more patient-centric, together, by revolutionizing hospital rankings.
