Outcomes-Driven Approach Affirmed Amidst Heart and Vascular Rankings Shift
For several years, Mass General Brigham has been reshaping how it measures success, sharpening our focus on what matters most: patient outcomes.
That philosophy is at the heart of For Every Patient, the system's unified quality strategy, which has focused on making measurable improvements to quality metrics and building a culture of high reliability across every hospital, practice and care team.
Now, the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals rankings provide another sign that the approach is working. This year, as the rankings’ methodology continues to shift away from physician reputation and toward objective measures of quality and patient outcomes, Mass General Brigham's hospitals and institutes continued to earn national recognition.
For the first time, U.S. News eliminated physician reputation as a factor in the Cardiology, Heart and Vascular Surgery category, instead relying primarily on 41 objective measures of quality and patient outcomes. Amidst the methodological shift, Mass General Brigham posted a net improvement in the specialty, an encouraging signal about our sustained focus on outcomes.
"Our two AMCs deliver outstanding quality outcomes and deep expertise in advanced cardiovascular care and research," said Patrick T. Ellinor, MD, PhD, Executive Director of the Heart and Vascular Institute. "This year’s rankings provide external validation of work that has been underway across our system for some time. As we look ahead to our continued efforts to advance our vision for the HVI, I am energized by the prospect of combining our capabilities at both campuses to drive even greater progress on behalf of our patients."
Across Mass General Brigham, clinicians have embraced a common approach to quality improvement through For Every Patient, anchored by the system's High Reliability Organization (HRO) transformation.
"Since launching HRO rounds in Cardiac Surgery over a year ago, we have driven meaningful improvements to the way we deliver care and the outcomes we achieve for our patients," said Thor Sundt, MD, chief of Cardiac Surgery for the Heart and Vascular Institute.
Those efforts have contributed to measurable improvements across the system, including stronger performance on key quality measures tracked internally and through Vizient.
The rankings also highlight the strength of Mass General Brigham's integrated model. While the academic medical centers earned top national honors, community hospitals across the system were recognized as high performers in dozens of specialties, procedures and conditions—demonstrating that the commitment to quality extends across every care setting.
"As we unite our capabilities as one HVI, our strength in cardiovascular care at both our AMCs and at our community hospitals represents a significant opportunity to harness our entire system of care on behalf of the patients we serve," said Christine Albert, MD, MPH, chief of Cardiology for the Heart and Vascular Institute.
National recognition is meaningful, but the goal remains unchanged: Every improvement in quality represents a better experience, safer care, or a better outcome for a patient. That is the measure that continues to matter most.
About Mass General Brigham
Mass General Brigham is an integrated academic health care system, uniting great minds to solve the hardest problems in medicine for our communities and the world. Mass General Brigham connects a full continuum of care across a system of academic medical centers, community and specialty hospitals, a health insurance plan, physician networks, community health centers, home care, and long-term care services. Mass General Brigham is a nonprofit organization committed to patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community. In addition, Mass General Brigham is one of the nation’s leading biomedical research organizations with several Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals. For more information, please visit massgeneralbrigham.org.