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SALT LAKE CITY — Huntsman Cancer Institute made the list of top 50 cancer hospitals in a national ranking of medical facilities released by U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday.
Although none of Utah's medical facilities cracked the U.S. News & World Report's "honor roll" of the nation's top 20 hospitals, University Hospital was named the No. 1 overall hospital in the state because of "high performing" scores in specialties like neurology, cardiology and nephrology.
Intermountain Medical Center was ranked No. 2 in the state. Dixie Regional Medical Center and Utah Valley Hospital (formerly known as Utah Valley Regional Medical Center) tied for No. 3.
Mary Beckerle, CEO and director of Huntsman Cancer Institute, said the hospital is "extremely pleased" by the recognition.
"Cancer touches the lives of everyone, and this recognition reflects our efforts to relieve the burden of this disease on our patients and their families through excellent patient care and robust scientific research," Beckerle said in a statement.
Critics have criticized the U.S. News & World Report rankings for being flawed — more useful for hospital marketing teams than for consumers.
Jill Vicory, spokeswoman at the Utah Hospital Association, cautioned that patients should use the rankings as just one of many tools when choosing a health care provider.
"Unfortunately, too many hospital ratings systems using too many differing approaches have cluttered the environment," Vicory said in a statement. "We encourage consumers to talk with their physicians, consider their insurance coverage as well as take quality and other measures into consideration when making a decision on the right health care provider to fit their needs."
U.S. News & World Report also warns consumers that the rankings "should just be a starting point."
Here's how and why we rank and rate #BestHospitalshttps://t.co/MmMTjXMTNM
— U.S. News (@usnews) August 3, 2016
"Hospitals are evaluated across a wide range of conditions and procedures," the organization wrote on an FAQ accompanying the rankings. "Within that range, hospitals can and do perform differently. In pulmonology, for example, a hospital might rank below another one but do better at treating patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease."
Hospital scores are calculated by combining patient safety and outcome data, according to U.S. News & World Report. In a handful of specialties, the organization uses reputation, based on a survey of physician specialists.
Another set of hospital ratings released by the federal government last week seemed to contradict the U.S. News & World Report rankings at times.
For example, Intermountain Medical Center received three out of five stars, placing it below Dixie Regional Medical Center.
Dixie Regional Medical Center, University of Utah Health Care and LDS Hospital were among 14 hospitals in the state that received four out of five stars. None received five stars, the highest rating.
Salt Lake Regional Medical Center and Davis Hospital and Medical Center were given two stars, the lowest in the state.
Some hospital administrators and health care organizations criticized the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' methodology as unfair to hospitals that care for the sickest patients or teach medical students. Email: dchen@deseretnews.com Twitter: DaphneChen_
