Last spring, we reported in this blog about an obscure medical journal study that punctured the balloon of the U.S. News "Best Hospitals" rankings.
The study by Dr. Ashwini Sehgal found that the rankings were based almost purely on the subjective reputation of the hospitals among similarly situated health care institutions, a self-fulfilling prophecy. More important, the rankings have almost nothing to do with a hospital's core job of keeping patients safe, which is something for which objective measures do exist.
Please see full publication below for more information.