In the United States, 426 hospital administrators are hanging a new award plaque on their office walls. The reason? Their institution has received the 2015 Women’s Choice Award as one of the best hospitals in the country for orthopedics.
Best 32 Orthopedic Hospitals for Women Identified

To see this list of 32 hospitals, click here.
Winners of the award for Best Hospital for Orthopedics are hospitals that provide comprehensive orthopedics services, performing a minimum number of arthroscopy, joint replacements and spine surgery services. They also offer onsite MRI and physical therapy.
These full-service hospitals are then judged based on their results through the Hospital Consumer Assessment for Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey for patient recommendations and post-operative recovery instructions—measures that researchers have found to be important to women when they are choosing a hospital.
Delia Passi, CEO and founder of the Women’s Choice Award, said, “Being treated with the proper level of care impacts one’s health, well-being, and healing, so it is critical for women to know those hospitals that have demonstrated the highest level of quality care for their patients, with a special focus on the needs and preferences of women.”
Women are estimated to account for 90% of all healthcare decisions for herself and her family making it important for a hospital to be an institution that women trust.
The Women’s Choice Awards program maintains that it is the only national list that simplifies a women’s choice when selecting a hospital. The organization’s understanding of what matters most to women when selecting a hospital is based on surveys of tens of thousands of women, as well as research conducted in partnership with the Wharton School of Business on what drives the consumer experience for women versus men. All of the methodologies take into consideration the female recommendation rating based on patient feedback.
The Women’s Choice Awards program maintains that it cannot separate clinical performance from patient experience. Recommendations and ratings are based on patient feedback. The Women’s Choice Awards are given to hospitals demonstrating excellence in areas besides orthopedics including the best hospitals for breast care, cancer, bariatric surgery, patient safety and stroke care.

Discussion
This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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