IBM Watson Health and Fortune Magazine last week released their list of the top 100 hospitals and top 15 health systems in the United States, and 82 are Advisory Board members.

Cheat sheet: See how IBM Watson Health calculates its top hospital rankings

Methodology

For the list, researchers with IBM Watson Health looked at public data for 3,134 short-term, acute care, nonfederal hospitals in the United States. The researchers analyzed Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data, and certain measures and patient satisfaction data from CMS' Hospital Compare website.

Researchers then assigned hospitals and health systems three different scores:

• A clinical outcomes score based on six measurements, including risk-adjusted mortality and complications, health care associated infections, and 30-day mortality and readmission rates;
• An operational efficiency score based on measurements of ED throughput, severity-adjusted length of stay, and adjusted inpatient expense per discharge; and
• A patient experience score based on overall patient ratings from CMS' Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) tool.

The researchers also assigned individual hospitals a financial health score based on a hospital's adjusted operating profit margin. Health systems did not receive a financial health score.

The top hospitals in the US, according to IBM Watson Health and Fortune

IBM Watson Health and Fortune Magazine divided their final list of top hospitals into five categories:

• Major teaching;
• Teaching;
• Large community;
• Medium community; and
• Small community.

The top-ranked hospital in each category was:

• St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor Hospital (Ann Arbor, Michigan) for Major Teaching;
• Rose Medical Center (Denver) for Teaching;
• Edward Hospital (Naperville, Illinois) for Large Community;
• Wooster Community Hospital (Wooster, Ohio) for Medium Community; and
• Lone Peak Hospital (Draper, Utah) for Small Community.

Of the 15 major teaching hospitals that made the list, 11 are Advisory Board members:

• St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor Hospital (Ann Arbor, Michigan);
• University of Utah Hospital (Salt Lake City);
• Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center (Chicago);
• Evanston Hospital (Evanston, Illinois);
• Stanford Hospital (Stanford, California);
• UT Medical Branch at Galveston (Galveston, Texas);
• Inova Fairfax Hospital (Falls Church, Virginia);
• UF Health Shands Hospital (Gainesville, Florida);
• UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica (Santa Monica, California);
• UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital (Aurora, Colorado); and
• Froedtert Hospital (Milwaukee).

Of the 25 teaching hospitals that made the list, 13 are Advisory Board members:

• UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital (Fort Collins, Colorado);
• Utah Valley Hospital (Provo, Utah);
• Mount Carmel St. Ann's (Westerville, Ohio);
• Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas (Rogers, Arkansas);
• Aspirus Wausau Hospital (Wausau, Wisconsin);
• Kettering Medical Center (Kettering, Ohio);
• MountainView Hospital (Las Vegas);
• United Hospital Center (Bridgeport, West Virginia);
• UH Geauga Medical Center (Chardon, Ohio);
• McKay-Dee Hospital (Ogden, Utah);
• St. Vincent Healthcare (Billings, Montana);
• Grandview Medical Center (Dayton, Ohio); and
• PIH Health Hospital—Whittier (Whittier, California).

Of the 20 large community hospitals that made the list, 14 are Advisory Board members:

• Edward Hospital (Naperville, Illinois);
• St. David's Medical Center (Austin, Texas);
• Elmhurst Hospital (Elmhurst, Illinois);
• Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City (Oklahoma City);
• St. Joseph's Hospital (Tampa, Florida);
• Hoag Hospital Newport Beach (Newport Beach, California);
• Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center (Medford, Oregon);
• Mercy Health—Anderson Hospital (Cincinnati);
• St. David's North Austin Medical Center (Austin, Texas);
• Stormont Vail Hospital (Topeka, Kansas);
• Saint Francis Medical Center (Cape Girardeau, Missouri);
• Silver Cross Hospital (New Lenox, Illinois);
• Advocate Sherman Hospital (Elgin, Illinois); and
• Sarasota Memorial Hospital (Sarasota, Florida).

Of the 20 medium community hospitals that made the list, 13 are Advisory Board members:

• Dublin Methodist Hospital (Dublin, Ohio);
• West Valley Medical Center (Caldwell, Idaho);
• Sycamore Medical Center (Miamisburg, Ohio);
• IU Health North Hospital (Carmel, Indiana);
• McLaren Northern Michigan (Petoskey, Michigan);
• Timpanogos Regional Hospital (Orem, Utah);
• Logan Regional Hospital (Logan, Utah);
• St. Vincent's Medical Center Clay County (Middleburg, Florida);
• MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center (Dubuque, Iowa);
• South Baldwin Regional Medical Center (Foley, Alabama);
• AdventHealth Wesley Chapel (Wesley Chapel, Florida);
• UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies (Loveland, Colorado); and
• Doctors Hospital of Sarasota (Sarasota, Florida).

And of the 20 small community hospitals that made the list, 17 are Advisory Board members:

• Lone Peak Hospital (Draper, Utah);
• St. John Owasso Hospital (Owasso, Oklahoma);
• Spectrum Health Zeeland Community Hospital (Zeeland, Michigan);
• American Fork Hospital (American Fork, Utah);
• Cedar City Hospital (Cedar City, Utah);
• Buffalo Hospital (Buffalo, Minnesota);
• Clark Regional Medical Center (Winchester, Kentucky);
• Alta View Hospital (Sandy, Utah);
• SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital—Janesville (Janesville, Wisconsin);
• Brigham City Community Hospital (Brigham City, Utah);
• Parkview Huntington Hospital (Huntington, Indiana);
• Baptist Health—Hot Spring County (Malvern, Arkansas);
• Parkview Noble Hospital (Kendallville, Indiana);
• Lakeview Hospital (Bountiful, Utah);
• Sutter Tracy Community Hospital (Tracy, California);
• SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital—Centralia (Centralia, Illinois); and
• Aurora Medical Center in Kenosha (Kenosha, Wisconsin).

The top health systems in the US, according to IBM Watson Health and Fortune

IBM Watson Health and Fortune Magazine divided its list of the top 15 health systems in the United States into three categories: large, medium, and small. The list included five health systems for each category. The top-ranked health system in each category was:

• HCA Continental Division/Healthcare One (Denver) for large health systems;
• Edward Elmhurst Health (Naperville, Illinois) for medium health systems; and
• Asante (Medford, Oregon) for small health systems.

Of the 15 health systems that made the list, 14 are Advisory Board members:

• Asante (Medford, Oregon);
• Aspirus (Wausau, Wisconsin);
• CHI Health (Omaha, Nebraska);
• Edward Elmhurst Health (Naperville, Illinois);
• Genesis Health System (Davenport, Iowa);
• HCA Continental Division/Healthcare One (Denver);
• HealthPartners (Bloomington, Minnesota);
• Kettering Health Network (Dayton, Ohio);
• Maury Regional Health (Columbia, Tennessee);
• Parkview Health (Fort Wayne, Indiana);
• Saint Alphonsus Health System (Boise, Idaho);
• Saint Luke's Health System (Kansas City, Missouri);
• St. Luke's Health System (Boise, Idaho); and
• UCHealth (Aurora, Colorado).

IBM Watson Health exec says top hospitals, health systems can lead 'reinvention' amid Covid-19

Kyu Rhee, VP and chief health officer of IBM Watson Health, said, "Covid-19 has challenged the global community and has created massive disruption across the entire health system," and the hospitals and health systems included on the list could serve as leaders as providers forge a path forward.

"[W]hile it's safe to say that there's no playbook for a pandemic of this magnitude, it's clear that hospitals … have stepped up in innovative ways to support patients and communities. I believe we have much to learn from this group as we reinvent our health system," Rhee said (Top 100 Hospitals/Health Systems Methodology; Top Community Hospitals, Fortune, 6/30; Top Teaching Hospitals, Fortune, 6/30; Top Health Systems, Fortune, 6/30; Fortune, 6/30; Ellison, Becker's Hospital Review, 6/30).