Medscape on Wednesday released a survey that shows which hospitals doctors would go to when seeking care for themselves or for a loved one.

For the survey, Medscape asked 11,549 physicians about the factors important to them when selecting a hospital for treatment for themselves or a loved one, as well as the hospital they would select for themselves or a family member for specific conditions and procedures. Medscape conducted the survey between May 17 and Aug. 13.

What physicians look for in a hospital

When physicians were asked about the most important factors when selecting a hospital:

• 45% listed medically respected expertise;
• 17% listed a good reputation among colleagues;
• 12% listed a specific physician at the hospital;
• 10% listed leading technology available;
• 6% listed low error rates;
• 4% listed treatments and studies published in respected medical journals;
• 3% listed low infection rates;
• 2% listed participation in clinical trials;
• 1% listed readmission rates; and
• 1% of responses were labeled as "other."

Where physicians would go for care, by medical condition

Medscape also asked providers to list their preferred hospitals for 10 specific conditions. For each condition, Medscape ranked the top 10 hospital selections based on responses from physicians overall, as well as several top selections from specialists in the condition in question. Medscape did not rank the responses from the specialists and instead provided them in alphabetical order

The survey shows that the preferred hospital for:

• Cardiac conditions was Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland) among all physicians and that the preferred hospitals among specialists were Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston), Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota), and NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center (New York);
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• Interventional cardiac surgery was Cleveland Clinic among all physicians and Brigham and Women's, Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, and NewYork-Presbyterian among specialists;
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• Stroke was Mayo Clinic among all physicians and Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston), Mayo Clinic, NewYork-Presbyterian, and Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore) among specialists;
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• Hip replacement was Hospital for Special Surgery (New York) among all physicians and Cleveland Clinic, Hospital for Special Surgery, Mayo Clinic, New England Baptist Hospital (Boston), and Rush University Medical Center (Chicago) among specialists;
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• Multiple sclerosis was Mayo Clinic among all physicians and Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General, Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, and UCSF Medical Center Parnassus (San Francisco) among specialists;
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• Spinal cord injury was Mayo Clinic among all physicians and Cleveland Clinic, Hospital for Special Surgery, Massachusetts General, Mayo Clinic, and Johns Hopkins;
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• Advanced hepatitis C was Mayo Clinic among all physicians and that the preferred hospitals among specialists were Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Mount Sinai Medical Center (Chicago), Johns Hopkins, and University of Miami Hospital (Miami) among specialists;
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• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis was Mayo Clinic among all physicians and Barnes-Jewish Hospital (St. Louis), Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General, Mayo Clinic, NewYork-Presbyterian, and Johns Hopkins among specialists;
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• Infectious diseases was Mayo Clinic among all physicians and Massachusetts General, Mayo Clinic, and Johns Hopkins among specialists; and
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• Pediatric conditions was Boston Children's Hospital (Boston) among all physicians and Boston Children's, Children's Hospital Los Angeles (Los Angeles), Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Philadelphia), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati), Texas Children's Hospital (Houston), and Johns Hopkins among specialists (Kane/Bohlander, Medscape, 9/19; Brooks, Medscape, 9/19).