Penn Med ranked among top hospitals in the nation

Penn Medicine hospitals remain number one in the Philadelphia region.

U.S. News ranked Penn Medicine as the 7th best hospital in the United States in its annual “Best Hospitals” survey. Penn Medicine hospitals — the only ones in the Philadelphia region — also made the 2014-15 Honor Roll for the 16th year in a row.

Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania Health System Patrick Brennan explained his reasoning for the hospital system’s continued success. “I think the things that we do consistently are having a very clear agenda for quality and outcomes. We’ve got a strategic plan that we work on everyday that’s focused on making sure the patients get the right care and that it’s safe care,” he said.

U.S. News recently revised its methodology to diversify ranking measurements. For this year’s survey, it reduced the weight on reputational score by 10 percent while increasing the weight of patient safety by the same amount. Penn Medicine received a perfect score for patient safety, which played a major role in its increased ranking.

The survey combined results for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. According to Brennan, UPHS’ recent addition of Chester County Hospital and Health System did not impact ranking this year.

Penn Medicine has held an average rank of 10 over the last five years, but according to Brennan, the hospital system focuses on the aspects that it can influence and matter most to the quality of its care.

“Whether patients live or die is really important, so we’re trying to prevent every death we can” he said. “We’re trying to deliver care that’s as safe as possible, so those are the aspects we focus on and we let the ranking system take care of itself.” 

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