Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Fails to Secure Spot in Top 50 Cancer Hospitals
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, a renowned institution in the field of cancer care, has once again missed out on a place within the top 50 cancer hospitals in the United States, according to the annual U.S. News & World Report ranking. Despite improving its overall score from last year, Roswell Park failed to crack into the coveted list of top cancer hospitals.
The comprehensive cancer center received an overall score of 51 out of 100, ranking 95th among cancer hospitals. While this represents an improvement from the previous year’s score of 48.9, President and CEO Candace S. Johnson expressed disappointment and criticized the ranking’s methodology. Johnson believes that the report fails to accurately reflect the exceptional care provided by Roswell Park.
In her critique of the rankings, Johnson argued that the methodology favors larger centers located in urban areas, overlooking the diverse range of care and expertise provided by smaller market hospitals like Roswell Park. She emphasized that the rankings do not adequately consider outpatient care, and the exclusion of Medicare Advantage patients from patient outcome data skews the results.
It is worth noting that hospitals, including Roswell Park, often have a love-hate relationship with these rankings. They eagerly use them to attract talented physicians and market their services to patients when ranked highly, but are quick to criticize the methodology when ranked poorly.
In response to Roswell Park’s concerns, U.S. News & World Report has acknowledged the ongoing dialogue and expressed its commitment to refining the methodology to align with the changing landscape of healthcare. The publication has assured that efforts are underway to address the concerns raised by Roswell Park and other hospitals.
While the rankings remain influential, experts caution patients to thoroughly scrutinize them and consider quantitative measures when making comparisons between hospitals. Dr. Stephen Edge, the cancer center’s vice president for system quality and outcomes, believes that the rankings’ flawed methodology is to blame for the rapid drop in Roswell Park’s ranking. He argues that outpatient care and a limited segment of patients are not adequately accounted for, contributing to the institution’s lower placement.
Despite being labeled as “high performing in cancer” in the 2022-23 rankings, Roswell Park has made it clear that it will not promote the rankings in their current form as a measure of their success. The institution has been critical of the rankings for years, emphasizing the need for more comprehensive assessments that capture the true quality of care provided.
As Roswell Park strives to cement its position as a leader in cancer treatment, it remains committed to providing exceptional care to patients while engaging in ongoing discussions with U.S. News & World Report to improve the ranking methodology and ensure a fair assessment of its services.
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