What to Know about US News and World Report's Best Hospitals Reputation Surveys

The annual reputation survey for US News and World Report’s “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings is now open online. The survey is expected to close Friday, March 24.

The surveys are open to licensed MDs and DOs who are eligible to participate based on speciality board certifications and who have registered their Doximity accounts. The survey is only available online on Doximity. 

Co-owned by USNWR, Doximity is an online communication platform similar to LinkedIn but exclusive to clinicians. Profiles are constructed for all licensed clinicians in various disciplines from hundreds of publicly available data sources. 

See common questions below.

  • Eligibility to participate in the survey is based on board certification. See the eligibility criteria.

    Make sure your board certification status is current on your profile in Doximity.

    If you haven't been invited to vote and believe you should be eligible, contact Doximity directly. 

    Submit a request with this online form or email support@doximity.com. 

  • Doximity is an online networking platform sometimes described as a LinkedIn for clinicians. It enables clinicians to connect and communicate with each other, among other features. 

    Doximity generates profiles for every licensed physician in the United States using publicly available data. These profiles are viewable to the public in Google and other search engines. These profiles also sync automatically with USNWR's online "Find a Doctor" directory. 

    In addition to conducting the reputation survey using Doximity, USNWR relies on Doximity profiles for any provider-level data, like board certifications, that influence the rankings.

    Doximity membership is also open to other licensed health care providers. See who can join Doximity.

     

     

  • Visit Doximity.com online or download the mobile app for iOS or Android. 

    Start by entering your name in the search bar and follow the instructions. 

    If you have technical questions, go online to support.doximity.com or email support@doximity.com

    You also can request support with this online form.

    Doximity has produced a video to walk clinicians through the registration process. It's a bit "salesy" but the instructional part starts at about 0:40. 

     

  • Clinicians who have registered their Doximity account and who are eligible to vote will be notified with an email from Doximity when the survey opens to them. The email will go the address associated with their account.

    An invitation to participate will also be available when they log into their Doximity account.

  • Doximity creates profiles for licensed health care professionals, including all physicians in the United States, from publicly available data. These data may not be correct.

    You should correct and complete your profile because:

    • This online profile supplies data for the doctor directory on USNews.com. It is available and tends to rank high in public search engines. Correcting errors helps assure that patients, peers and referring clinicians find accurate information about you online.
       
    • USNWR relies on Doximity for provider-level data that influence the rankings. Certain errors, like board certifications, may negatively impact VUMC's and Children's Hospital's overall rankings.
       
    • It's NOT a choice to be included on Doximity; your choice is to make sure your data reflect you, your expertise and your practice correctly -- and, if eligible, you have the opportunity to influence the rankings through the reputation survey.

    See instructions for editing your profile.

  • Adult specialties with national rankings in 2023:

    • Cancer
    • Cardiology and heart surgery
    • Diabetes and endocrinology
    • Ear, nose and throat
    • Gastroenterology and GI surgery
    • Geriatrics
    • Gynecology
    • Neurology and neurosurgery
    • Ophthalmology (reputation only)
    • Orthopedics
    • Psychiatry (reputation only)
    • Pulmonology and lung surgery
    • Rehabilitation
    • Rheumatology (reputation only)
    • Urology

    Note that starting in 2021, USNWR did not publish rankings in nephrology.

  • Ranked pediatric specialties in 2023:

    • Cancer
    • Cardiology and heart surgery
    • Diabetes and endocrinology
    • Gastroenterology and GI surgery
    • Neonatology
    • Nephrology
    • Neurology and neurosurgery
    • Orthopedics
    • Pulmonology and lung surgery
    • Urology

  • In 2022, USNWR nationally ranked adult hospitals in 15 specialties as well as for a number of conditions and procedures. Children's hospital were ranked in 10 specialties.

    The reputation survey makes up a portion of the overall rankings, alongside a set of quantitative metrics related to structure, process and outcomes. Three adult specialties (ophthalmology, rheumatology and psychiatry) are ranked based on the reputation survey alone.

    Points are assigned based on those results. Point totals then determine the set of Honor Roll hospitals.

    USNWR announced on its Second Opinion blog that for the 2023-24 rankings, the reputation survey will play a decreased role in the methodology for all but the "reputation-only" specialties.

    The impact is 10% or less for pediatric specialities. The impact is 12-15% for adult specialties except rehabilitation, which has decreased from 50% to 30%.

    The methodology for the rankings often changes without notice to hospitals. Specific methodology is released each year when the annual rankings are announced (typically in June for the children's hospital rankings and July for the adult hospital rankings). 

    If you're curious, here's the methodology for the 2022 rankings:

     

     

  • If you need help resetting your password, use this link.

    If you forgot the email you used to set up your Doximity account, submit a request here. 

     

     

  • Yes, Doximity has a mobile app for iOS and Android phones and tablets.

    Learn more.

  • The survey doesn't open to all eligible voters at once. It opens in waves, so it is possible that it has not yet rolled out to you yet. We expect all notifications to go out by Feb. 24.

    It's also possible that your board certification(s) in your Doximity profile are not up to date. Check the list of eligibility criteria, and make sure that if you hold one or more of these board certifications, they are reflected in your profile. 

    If you haven't been notified of your opportunity to vote and you believe you should be eligible, we recommend that you contact Doximity directly. 

    If you need any assistance, you can submit a request with this online form or email support@doximity.com.