Are you looking for the best hospitals in South Carolina?
Best Hospital in South Carolina: Medical University of South Carolina
Every year, U.S. News & World Report evaluates hospitals in every state and gives them a ranking based on their performance with certain procedures and conditions as well as their specialties. Despite evaluating 94 South Carolina hospitals, only eight met the high U.S. News & World Report standards. The best South Carolina hospital, according to this list, is Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston. This marks the ninth year in a row that MUSC was ranked number one, with four specialties and 16 procedures and conditions considered “high performing”. MUSC is also nationally ranked in two adult specialties and six children’s specialties. (Health.USNews.com)
How does US News & World Report evaluate hospitals?
Each hospital evaluated by U.S. News & World report were judged by two criteria:
- Specialty rankings – “…meant for patients with life-threatening or rare conditions who need a hospital that excels in treating complex, high-risk cases. These rankings are helpful if you’re looking for information about a rare condition or difficult diagnosis that isn’t treated at many facilities.”
- Procedure and condition ratings – “…focus on specific and more commonly required individual procedures and conditions, such as hip replacement and heart failure, rather than on broader specialties like orthopedics and cardiology. The goal is to evaluate how well hospitals perform in each procedure or condition – not just with the most challenging cases, as with the specialty rankings, but with the full range of patients.” (Health.USNews.com)
Top South Carolina hospitals also on the list
The other seven top SC hospitals on the list include:
- Roper Hospital in Charleston
- Spartanburg Medical Center
- McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence
- Bon Secours St. Francis Health System – Greenville
- Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital
- Grand Strand Regional Medical Center in Myrtle Beach
- Lexington Medical Center in Columbia
Of these seven, only one (Lexington Medical Center) is in the Midlands of South Carolina (Health.USNews.com).
Another Top Hospital in South Carolina
Lexington Medical Center in Columbia has placed on this short list three years in a row. They rank second again this year. This hospital was considered high performing for conditions and procedures. These include: back surgery (spinal fusion), hip fracture, hip replacement, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), colon cancer surgery, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, heart attack, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, diabetes, kidney failure, knee replacement, stroke and the combined procedure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
The average patient experience is a rating of four out of five stars. While Lexington Medical Center does have an onsite emergency department, weight control services, and a medical surgical ICU, it does not have a Cardiac ICU or addiction treatment services.
Safest Hospitals in South Carolina
According to The State Newspaper, Prisma Health Baptist and Prisma Health Baptist Parkridge are considered the safest hospitals in South Carolina. They both received an A grade in the most recent report by The Leapfrog Group. Lexington Medical Center was regarded as the safest in the previous report, but dropped to a B grade in this report.
“The Leapfrog Group is a nonprofit watchdog organization that serves as a voice for health care consumers and purchasers, using their collective influence to foster positive change in U.S. health care.” This medical watchdog group publishes hospital safety scores biannually, in the spring and in the fall. These ratings are based on errors, accidents and infections.
Of the 50 ranked hospitals in SC, 21 received an ‘A’ grade. No SC hospitals received a grade of F.
The Leap Frog Group grading method
The Leap Frog safety grades are based on two domains: Process/Structural Measures and Outcome Measures
- “Process Measures represent how often a hospital gives patients recommended treatment for a given medical condition or procedure. For example, “Responsiveness of hospital staff” looks at patients’ feedback on how long it takes for a staff member to respond when they request help. Structural Measures represent the environment in which patients receive care. For example, “Doctors order medications through a computer” represents whether a hospital uses a special computerized system to prevent errors when prescribing medications.
- Outcome Measures represent what happens to a patient while receiving care. For example, “Dangerous object left in patient’s body” measures how many times a patient undergoing surgery had a dangerous foreign object, like a sponge or tool, left in his or her body.” (TheState.com)
To learn more about how these grades are determined and how to find your hospital’s rating, go to The Leapfrog Group .
It is important not to reject emergency treatment due to any of these rankings. Instead ask your doctor which hospital may be best for treatment.
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