Hospital Rankings: Which Ones Matter and Which are Just ‘Merit Badges’?

When a hospital claims to be “No. 1” in a ranking, what does that ultimately mean to you as a patient? Does a top-ranked hospital actually mean better quality of care? Dr. Robert Pendleton, chief medical quality officer at University of Utah Health, says there are more than 30 different rankings in the U.S. that are strictly for advertising and have little to do with actual quality of care, and about a dozen meaningful ones. Dr. Pendleton joins The Scope to talk about which rankings you should look for when choosing a hospital and how to distinguish which ones are merely “medical merit badges.”