Mayo Clinic, NYU Langone Hospitals tied No. 1 in US for pulmonology and lung surgery

Key takeaways:

• The top spot for best hospital for pulmonology and lung surgery was held by two hospitals.
• All five of the top pulmonology and lung surgery hospitals were also on the Best Hospitals Honor Roll.

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and NYU Langone Hospitals tied for No. 1 on U.S. News & World Report’s list of Best Hospitals for pulmonology and lung surgery.

“It is an incredible honor for us to be recognized as one of the premier institutions in the United States for pulmonology and lung surgery,” Daniel H. Sterman, MD, division director of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine and the Thomas and Suzanne Murphy Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at NYU Langone Health, told Healio.

“Over the past decade, we have dedicated ourselves to building an unparalleled, multidisciplinary Lung Center at NYU Langone Health that provides the best possible care and patient experience for all those with respiratory disorders,” Sterman said.

In last year’s report, Mayo Clinic ranked No. 1, and NYU Langone Hospitals ranked No. 3.

The top-ranked hospitals for pulmonology and lung surgery in the 2024-2025 report are:

• Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota;
• NYU Langone Hospitals;
• UCLA Medical Center;
• UCSF Health-UCSF Medical Center; and
• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Each of these hospitals also made the 2024-2025 Best Hospitals Honor Roll, which included 20 hospitals that ranked highly across several specialties this year.

According to the Insights into the 2024-2025 Best Hospitals Rankings press release, this edition of rankings compared more than 4,500 hospitals that included 15 specialties and 20 procedures and conditions. The pulmonology and lung surgery specialty assessment included 1,668 hospitals.

Notable new additions to the 2024-2025 ranking include “Medicare Advantage data in outcome analysis, the introduction of outpatient outcomes in additional specialty rankings and surgical ratings, [and] the refinement of logics identifying interhospital transfers,” according to the press release.

U.S. News & World Report also added rankings for Best Regional Hospitals for Equitable Access to its annual report.

When asked about the reason behind its No. 1 ranking, Sterman mentioned NYU Langone’s robotic surgery program and its lung transplantation program.

“Our robotic thoracic surgery program is world-renowned and serves as a hub for educating surgeons globally on novel techniques and optimal pathways of care,” Sterman said. “Our lung transplantation program is No. 1 in the United States in outcomes and has the shortest waitlist time resulting in many lives saved and quality of life dramatically improved.”

Robert J. Cerfolio, MD, MBA, director of clinical thoracic oncology at NYU Langone Health, further told Healio that the robotic thoracic surgery program is associated with several favorable patient outcomes.

“We have perhaps the lowest 30- and 90-day mortality, the lowest major morbidity rates (less than 1%), the shortest length of stay for pulmonary resections (1 day), the shortest chest tube duration time (4 hours) and some of the lowest conversion rate from robotic to open (less than 1%) in the world,” Cerfolio said.

Sterman and Cerfolio also credited NYU Langone’s sub-specialty programs in interventional pulmonology, pulmonary hypertension, bronchiectasis, airways and interstitial lung diseases.

“This honor which we received is one that we take great pride in, but we also understand that we will not rest until we provide the best care for every patient and family member who comes to our Lung Center at NYU Langone Health,” Sterman said.

A complete list of the national rankings can be found at https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings.

Reference:

• Best hospitals for pulmonology & lung surgery. https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings/pulmonology. Published July 16, 2024. Accessed July 16, 2024.