Consumer Reports released ratings of hospitals based on how patients fared during elective surgery as well as surgery outcomes. Consumer reports developed ratings for five of types of procedures: back surgery, hip replacements, knee replacements, angioplasty and carotid artery surgery.
The rankings are based on billing data, and they include the percentage of a hospital's Medicare patients who die in the hospital or stay longer than expected for their procedure.
Here are the 34 highest-rated hospitals in the United States for hip replacement surgery:
• Thomas Hospital, Fairhope, Ala.
• Arizona Spine and Joint Hospital, Mesa
• Northwest Medical Center, Tucson, Ariz.
• Yavapai Regional Medical Center, Prescott, Ariz.
• Fresno Surgical Hospital, Fresno, Calif.
• Hoag Orthopedic Institute, Irvine, Calif.
• Saint John's Health Center, Santa Monica, Calif.
• St. Joseph Hospital, Orange, Calif.
• Washington Hospital Healthcare System, Fremont, Calif.
• Porter Adventist Hospital, Denver
• Poudre Valley Hospital, Fort Collins, Colo.
• Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, Conn.
• Gulf Coast Medical Center, Panama City, Fla.
• Mayo Clinic Jacksonville (Fla.)
• Ocala (Fla.) Regional Medical Center
• Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana, Ill.
• OrthoIndy Hospital, Indianapolis
• Parkview Ortho Hospital, Fort Wayne, Ind.
• Stormont-Vail HealthCare, Topeka, Kan.
• Fairview Southdale Hospital, Edina, Minn.
• St. Vincent Healthcare, Billings, Mont.
• Presbyterian-Orthopaedic Hospital, Charlotte, N.C.
• Rex Healthcare, Raleigh, N.C.
• Sierra Surgery Hospital, Carson City, Nev.
• Mount Carmel New Albany Surgical Hospital, New Albany, Ohio
• McBride Clinic Orthopedic Hospital, Oklahoma City
• Bon Secours St. Francis Health System, Greenville, S.C.
• Sioux Falls (S.D.) Surgical Center
• Dixie Regional Medical Center, Saint George, Utah
• Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, Provo, Utah
• Overlake Hospital Medical Center, Bellevue, Wash.
• Swedish Medical Center-First Hill, Seattle
• Bellin Memorial Hospital, Green Bay, Wis.
• Oconomowoc (Wis.) Memorial Hospital