There are a lot of report cards out there and they're very confusing for people.

We know that most problems in hospitals are not due to one bad doctor or one bad nurse. Problems come from the systems in the organization. And by looking at the performance of the whole organization, we're able to look at those hospitals that have goals for true performance, leadership that stands behind it ...

I would say, and we have always said, that this should not be used as the only criteria to pick a hospital. But it does say which hospitals are well-aligned.

The 100 Top Hospital award winners continue to demonstrate significant distinctions in provision of value to their communities, as shown by objective differences in clinical outcomes, patient safety, efficient operations and financial stability. These top 100 hospitals react quicker to challenges than their peers, and they focus on all aspects of care, not just one.

The award is for organization-wide achievement, requiring concerted effort by all levels of the organization - your board, management team, employees and medical staff - to achieve excellence. Your selection is based on objective statistical measurement of objective statistical measurement of performance across five critical areas: clinical outcomes, patent safety, operational efficiency, financial stability and growth.

What we were able to identify over five years is that hospitals that won more than once had a pure focus on continuous quality improvement. What the consumer can depend on with this list is that these hospitals are consistently good performers.