U.S. News publishes "Best Hospitals 2010-2011"

U.S. News evaluated almost 5,000 hospitals to rank the best in 16 adult specialties from cancer to urology. Death rates, patient safety, and reputation with more than 9,000 specialists went into the 2010-11 rankings. Of 152 hospitals ranked in at least one specialty, 14 are featured in an Honor Roll for landing near the top in at least six specialties.

We all want to be considered "the best," but how do you define what it means to be the best hospital?
I guess you'll simply have to read the U.S. News article to understand how they ranked hospitals across the country. Visit: http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings

Is teen driving a public health epidemic?

As I was reading the current edition of US. News and World Report, I saw this Allstate advertisement that said: Teen Driving: A Public Health Epidemic. Here are the stats (according to this ad):

• More than 4,000 teens die in car crashes each year
• Another 355,000 are injured in car crashes each year

Wow, those stats are staggering! US News is conducting a poll to gauge opinions on this topic. If you'd like to vote, visit: www.usnews.com/drivingpoll

Right now, the poll is asking this question: "What factor do you think is responsible for the majority of teen-driving crashes?"

• Inexperience 
• Speeding 
• Texting or talking on a cell phone 
• Alcohol use 

It's too bad they don't have "all of the above" since that's what everyone would probably pick. 

America's Best Nursing Homes

The February edition of US News has a section titled, "America's Best Nursing Homes" and it lists some of the top nursing homes in various states. If you're thinking about long-term care for yourself or for a loved one, then you may want to look at this list.

In my region, some of the top nursing homes (according to US News) include:

• Crosslands in Kennett Square, PA
• Calvary Fellowship Homes in Lancaster, PA
• Holy Name Friary in Ringwood, NJ
  
• Cokesbury Village in Hockessin, DE
• Our Lady of Hope Residence in Latham, NY

There are 173 nursing homes listed and some scored a total of 15 stars while others scored a total of 14 stars in 3 different categories. All the homes listed scored 5 stars overall, the highest rating by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

You can also view the Medicare.gov - Nursing Home Compare website to do some research about different nursing homes in your area (www.medicare.gov/nhcompare).

US News college rankings and MIT

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) was ranked as #4 overall among U.S. universities and #1 in engineering. Specific engineering disciplines at MIT that U.S. News also ranked as the nation's best include: aeronautics and astronautics, chemical, electrical and computer science, materials and mechanical (that was me). I studied mechanical engineering at MIT and look at me now. I'm blogging about medicine and technology. The MIT Sloan School of Management was rated the nation's fifth MBA program behind Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern and the University of Pennsylvania. A salute to all my friends and colleagues from MIT!