Duke Doctors Say Hospital Rankings Overlook Patient Economic Status

WUNC | By Anita Rao,

Published July 29, 2020 at 2:56 PM EDT

Hospital rankings released each year may not account for regional differences and socioeconomic factors that impact patient health, a new article suggests.

Organizations publish ranked lists of the country’s best hospitals every year in an effort to guide patients to high-quality care. One of the most visible, U.S. News and World, released their 2020-21 Best Hospitals Honor Roll on Tuesday.

Host Anita Rao talks with Dr. Jonathan Bae of Duke Health about how hospital rankings can change to center patient experience.

But a new article from two Duke Health doctors and a Duke University scholar suggests these rankings fail to account for regional differences and socioeconomic factors in underlying patient health. Dr. Jonathan A. Bae,Lesley H. Curtis, and Dr.Adrian F. Hernandezco-authored the paper. Host Anita Rao talks with Dr. Bae about centering patient experience in measuring healthcare quality and how using a rating system instead of a ranking system could start that process.

Anita Rao

Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.

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Josie Taris

Josie Taris left her home in Fayetteville in 2014 to study journalism at Northwestern University. There, she took a class called Journalism of Empathy and found her passion in audio storytelling. She hopes every story she produces challenges the audience's preconceptions of the world. After spending the summer of 2018 working in communications for a Chicago nonprofit, she decided to come home to work for the station she grew up listening to. When she's not working, Josie is likely rooting for the Chicago Cubs or petting every dog she passes on the street.

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