Akron Children’s Among Best Children’s Hospitals
AKRON, Ohio -- Akron Children’s Hospital has been ranked in seven pediatric specialties in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013-14 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings. A highlight of this year’s rankings is the orthopedics program, which moved up 13 spots to reach 22nd place.
Akron Children’s was ranked 22nd in orthopedics, 26th in cancer, 28th in neurology and neurosurgery, 29th in pulmonology, 31st in urology, 32nd in diabetes and endocrinology and 37th in nephrology, according to Shawn Lyden, executive vice president.
“Specialization has allowed us to achieve higher quality for the patient and a greater research interest level for the surgeon,” noted Kerwyn Jones, M.D., chairman of the orthopedics department.
According to Lyden, Jones and his fellow pediatric orthopedic surgeons have become known for their expertise in such areas as surgery of the spine, back, hips, feet, arms and knees. As they have focused their practices in these areas, they have been able to delve into clinical and basic science research, study best practices, and present and publish their findings for peer review.
Akron Children’s also saw its neurology and neurosurgery and childhood cancer and blood disorder programs each move up nine places to 28th and 26th place, respectively.
U.S. News & World Report’s 2013-14 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings provide quality-related information, such as survival rates, adequacy of nurse staffing, and procedure volume. Since the 2007 debut, the rankings have put an increasing emphasis on data that directly reflect the hospitals’ performance over the opinions of physicians. This year, U.S. News surveyed 178 pediatric centers to obtain data such as availability of key resources and ability to prevent complications and infections. The hospital survey is made up of 75% of the rankings. A separate reputational survey in which 1,500 pediatric specialists -- 150 in each specialty -- were asked where they would send the sickest children in their specialty made up the remaining 25%.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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