U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday released its "Best Children's Hospitals" rankings, naming the 10 best children's hospitals in the country as well as the top 50 children's hospitals in each of 10 pediatric specialties.

Cheat sheet: How US News picks its 'Best Children's Hospitals'

Methodology

For the 13th annual "Best Children's Hospitals" rankings, researchers surveyed 191 facilities. According to U.S. News, 125 facilities submitted sufficient data to be considered for ranking in at least one of the 10 assessed specialties, which are:

• Cancer;
• Cardiology & heart surgery;
• Diabetes & endocrinology;
• Gastroenterology & GI surgery;
• Neonatology;
• Nephrology;
• Neurology & neurosurgery;
• Orthopedics;
• Pulmonology; and
• Urology.

The publication based its hospital scores on:

• Outcomes data—including survival, infections, and surgical complications—which accounted for 33.3% of the overall score in every specialty except cardiology/heart surgery, for which it accounted for 38.3%;

• Structure, meaning resources related directly to patient care, such as specialized clinics and nurse-patient ratios, which accounted for 33.3% of the overall score in every specialty;

• The hospital's reputation among experts, based on a survey of pediatric specialists and subspecialists, which accounted for 15% of the overall score in every specialty except cardiology/heart surgery, for which reputation accounted for 8.5% of the score;

• The hospital's adherence to best practices within specialties, which accounted for 9.2% of the score in every specialty except cardiology, for which it accounted for 9.9%; and

• Infection prevention, which accounted for 9.2% of the score in every specialty except cardiology, for which it accounted for 9.9%.

Overall, U.S. News recognized 84 hospitals in this year's rankings.

The Best Children's Hospitals

U.S. News named 10 hospitals to the Honor Roll, which denotes "pediatric centers that deliver exceptionally high quality care across multiple specialties."

The Honor Roll includes:

1. Boston Children's Hospital (Boston);
2. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Philadelphia);
3. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati);
4. Texas Children's Hospital (Houston);
5. Children's Hospital Los Angeles (Los Angeles);
6. Children's National Medical Center (Washington, D.C.);
7. Nationwide Children's Hospital (Columbus, Ohio);
8. UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania);
9. Johns Hopkins Children's Center (Baltimore); and
10. Seattle Children's Hospital (Seattle)

This is the sixth consecutive year that Boston Children's has taken the top spot on the honor roll.

Across the 10 specialty rankings, the No. 1 children's hospital for:

• Pediatric cancer and for gastroenterology/GI surgery is Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center;
• Pediatric cardiology/heart surgery and for pulmonology is Texas Children's Hospital;
• Pediatric diabetes/endocrinology and for urology is Children's Hospital of Philadelphia;
• Pediatric neonatology is Children's National Medical; and
• Pediatric nephrology, for neurology/neurosurgery, and for orthopedics is Boston Children's Hospital ( U.S. News & World Report release, 6/18; " Best Children's Hospitals," U.S. News & World Report, 6/18; U.S. News & World Report methodology, accessed 6/18; U.S. News & World Report FAQs, accessed 6/18).

Just updated: Learn how US News'—and other leading ratings programs—actually work

Download our one page sheets for summaries on the methodology and metric categories used in seven hospital quality rating programs:

• US News and World Report Best Children's Hospital Rankings
• Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Awards
• CMS HCAHPS Patient Experience Star Rating
• US News and World Report Best Hospital Rankings

Get all the Cheat Sheets