A few weeks ago, you probably saw the U.S. News and World Report 2019-2020 Best Children’s Hospitals ranking and honor roll. We were all simply thrilled that Texas Children’s Hospital continues to be ranked among the best in the nation.
We were ranked even higher this year, tying for third place among all children’s hospitals nationally. And for the first time, Texas Children’s is ranked in the top 10 in each of the pediatric sub-specialties the survey assesses. Six of our sub-specialties were ranked in the top 3 – two are ranked #1, two are ranked #2, and another two are ranked #3.
Now I’ll admit, these rankings are just fantastic! I’m always proud of the attention they bring to our focus on exceptional care. But without a doubt, our patients are the winners here, because the survey measures things that, ultimately, are really significant for our patients and their families.
The survey factors in patient outcomes, such as mortality and infection rates, available clinical resources, and compliance with best practices. So when our rankings improve overall or in any category, it demonstrates that we’re not just striving to be better, we actually are better. And better care and exceptional outcomes are huge wins for our patients.
For example, last year our CLABSI rates were some of our lowest ever. We continued to make big strides in the reduction of hospital-acquired pressure injuries. An ongoing system-wide push from nursing helped recruit and retain more outstanding caregivers, ensuring we have the proper nurse-patient ratio at all times. Our Department of Radiology worked rapidly and tirelessly to earn a new ultrasound accreditation. And our IS department worked side by side with operations and clinicians to implement a new information-sharing system that allowed us to exchange patient health information more seamlessly with other institutions. All of these house-wide improvements were noted in the surveyors’ assessment as factors in our ranking this year.
I shared our sub-specialty rankings with you last month, but I want you to know what they really mean, beyond the numbers. Starting today on Connect and for the next several weeks, we’re spotlighting each of our 10 sub-specialty areas ranked in the recent U.S. News survey to share details about the improvements, programs, and advancements that garnered these impressive results.
There’s some incredible work happening across all 10 of these sub-specialties and throughout our organization, and the real excitement is how our gains in the rankings translate to better outcomes for our patients. When we have a strong showing on any survey that examines the care we provide, it’s another reminder that our focus is exactly where it should be.