Is it a coincidence or a consequence that the leading children’s hospitals in the United States use EHR technology from one of two prominent EHR developers?
Once again there is a tie amongst the list of the nation’s best children’s hospitals with Boston Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia sharing top honors.
According to the eighth-annual U. S. News Best Children’s Hospitals ranking released earlier today, the Boston and Philadelphia pediatric care centers both tallied 20 overall points and high marks in 10 specialties. That year, the Philadelphia pediatric care center came in one point ahead of the Boston counterpart.
The leaders of both organizations credited their clinical staff with their focus on collaboration and patient- and family-centered approach to care coordination.
“Our clinicians focus on family-centered care, collaborating with parents and caregivers on each patient’s journey,” Boston Children’s President and CEO Sandra L. Fenwick said in a public statement. These rankings are evidence that great things happen when we work together.”
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia CEO Steven M. Altschuler, MD, echoed those sentiments in his public comments.
“This ranking is a testament to the dedication and skill of our talented staff, who work tirelessly every day to provide the best care to children and to advance the field of pediatric healthcare,” he explained. “Their commitment to their work — and to the many thousands of children who come to CHOP every year from all over the world — is truly inspiring.”
Here’s how the top-two measured up across the ten areas:
Cancer: Boston Children’s (1); CHOP (2)
Cardiology & Heart Surgery: Boston Children’s (1); CHOP (3)
Diabetes & Endocrinology: Boston Children’s (1); CHOP (2)
Gastroenterology & GI Surgery: Boston Children’s (1); CHOP (4)
Neonatology: Boston Children’s (5); CHOP (1)
Nephrology: Boston Children’s (1); CHOP (3)
Neurology & Neurosurgery: Boston Children’s (1); CHOP (2)
Orthopedics: Boston Children’s (1); CHOP (4)
Pulmonology: Boston Children’s (3); CHOP (1)
Urology: Boston Children’s (1); CHOP (3)
The rounding out the honor roll list are the usual suspects with one exception. Coming in at the seventh spot and replacing St. Louis Children’s Hospital-Washington University is Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio:
1. Boston Children’s Hospital
1. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
3. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
4. Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston
5. Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles
6. Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora
7. Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
8. Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
9. Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
10. Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Baltimore
Something the rankings do not include but information from Definitive Healthcare reveals is the primary use of best-in-class EHR and health IT systems by these pediatric hospitals from two vendors: Epic Systems and Cerner Corporation.
While two of the top-five (Boston Children’s and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles) and altogether three of the top-ten (Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC) pediatric hospitals are Cerner shops, the honor roll is dominated by Epic shops.
Although the methodology behind the rankings weighs numerous factors, best practices and patient outcomes, both of which rely on data and communication, were weighted more heavily than others. This does not mean that adopters of either of these EHR technologies are guaranteed to achieve elite status as far as rankings go, but it does speak to the high likelihood of there being well-integrated systems in place among these institutions, especially those affiliated with major health systems in their respective geographies.
