METHODOLOGY

THE WORLD’S BEST HOSPITALS 2023

ranking lists the best hospitals in 28 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and U.S. The countries were selected based on multiple comparability factors, such as standard of living/ life expectancy, population size, number of hospitals and data availability.

A global board of renowned medical experts supports the continuous development of the methodology. The lists are based on four data sources:

1 _ Online Survey

Over 80,0000 medical experts (doctors, hospital managers, health care professionals) in 28 countries were invited to participate in an online survey. Participants were asked to recommend hospitals in their own country as well as in other countries. Recommendations for own employer/hospital were not allowed.

2 _ Patient Satisfaction

Results from patient experience surveys. Publicly available data from existing patient surveys was used to analyze patient experience. Patient surveys are typically conducted by insurance companies among patients after hospitalization. Examples of survey topics include general satisfaction with the hospital, recommendation of hospital and satisfaction with medical care.

3 _ Hospital Quality Metrics

e.g., data on quality of treatment and hygiene measures. Quality metrics from a variety of public sources were collected for most countries. Quality metrics differ between countries. Examples of included data are data on quality of care for specific treatments, data on hygiene measures and patient safety and data on number of patients per doctors and per nurse.

4 _ PROMS Implementation Survey

For the first time, a PROMS implementation score has been included in the scoring model of the World’s Best hospitals project. PROMS are defined as standardized, validated questionnaires completed by patients to measure their perception of their functional well-being and quality of life. In the fall and winter of 2022, Newsweek and Statista reached out to hospitals and conducted a survey about the implementation and use of PROMS.

Scores were calculated for each hospital in each of four categories and weighted: Peer recommendation (49 percent national, 5 percent international): patient experience (14.5 percent), hospital quality metrics (29 percent), PROMS implementation (2.5 percent).

Every hospital in each country is rated by a score. Scores are only comparable between hospitals in the same country, because different sources for patient experience and medical key performance indicators were examined in each country. Since it was not possible to harmonize this data, cross-country comparisons of the scores are not possible (a score of 90 in country A doesn’t necessarily mean that this hospital is better than a hospital with a score of 87 in country B).

The number of hospitals awarded in each country varies based on the number of hospitals and data availability in the respective country. The U.S. had the most hospitals awarded with 414, while Israel and Singapore were represented with 10 hospitals each. In total, more than 2,300 hospitals were ranked for this fifth edition of the ranking.

The top global hospitals were determined by the number of international recommendations received in the survey and their national rank. The global list does not include specialized hospitals.

The rankings are comprised exclusively of hospitals eligible regarding the scope described here. The ranking is the result of an elaborate process which, due to the interval of data-collection and analysis, is a reflection of the last calendar year. Furthermore, events preceding or following the period January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022, and/or pertaining to individual persons affiliated/associated with the facilities were not included in the metrics. As such, the results of this ranking should not be used as the sole source of information for future deliberations.

The information in this ranking should be considered in conjunction with other available information about hospitals or, if possible, accompanied by a visit to a facility. The quality of hospitals not included in the rankings is not disputed. The full rankings and methodology are available at newsweek.com/wbh-2023