For example, 89 percent of university hospitals fall below the national average in orthopedic care, and 85 percent fall below the national average for general surgery. However, university hospitals appeared more frequently than non-university hospitals in the top 10 percent of all hospitals nationally in cancer care and overall medical care.
The study, “An Assessment of the Quality of University Hospital Care in the U.S.”, examined 118 university hospitals across all key components of quality available for comparison — process, outcomes and patient satisfaction — to form a single composite percentile score and attendant quality ranking.
Surprisingly, many highly-regarded university hospitals performed in the bottom 25 percent of all hospitals nationally for overall quality of hospital care. Notable hospitals in the bottom 25 percent include Emory University Hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, Hospital of University of Pennsylvania and Stanford Hospital, among others.
University hospitals scoring the highest in terms of quality include Ball Memorial Hospital (affiliated with Indiana University) and Gunderson Lutheran Medical Center (affiliated with the University of Wisconsin).
“Most people assume that a university hospital will provide better quality care because these institutions typically conduct cutting-edge academic research, have lofty reputations and adopt the latest treatment protocols and technologies,” Thane Forthman, DHA, MBA, managing principal of The Delta Group, said in the release. “We were especially surprised to see the study reveal that some of the nation’s best-known university hospitals scored in the bottom quartile of all hospitals nationally for overall quality of hospital care.”
CareChex cited the extensive use of interns and residents working extended shifts as a possible cause for decreased quality ratings at university hospitals, but said more research is needed.
Learn more about CareChex.
