The American magazine Newsweek, in collaboration with the company Statista, has published its traditional ranking of the best hospitals in the world. In total, more than 2,300 hospitals in 28 countries were ranked in this fifth edition of the ranking. 4 Belgian hospitals are in the World Top, 29 Belgian general hospitals and one specialized hospital are included in the Belgian list of the American magazine. Check out the ranking.

These are difficult times for hospitals. COVID-19 has placed unprecedented pressure on health systems, as have inflation and global financial uncertainty. In the United States and around the world, major hospitals are facing rising costs, an aging population and a medical workforce that is exhausted from battling a global pandemic.

However, for newsweek magazine, what characterizes great hospitals is not just first-class care, first-class research and first-class innovation. The best institutions also share another quality: consistency. The best hospitals in the world consistently attract the best people and deliver the best patient outcomes and the most important new therapies and research. Of all the hospitals in the world, relatively few can do all of these things year after year.

This year, newsweek added an important new pillar to the scoring model: for the first time, hospitals were asked about the implementation status of their PROMs. PROMs are defined as standardized and validated questionnaires completed by patients to measure their perception of their functional well-being and quality of life.

As shown by  the fifth annual ranking of the best hospitals in the world  by Newsweek and Statista, Belgium does not have to be ashamed of its results with 4 hospitals in the world Top 250. UZ Leuven in 48th place, (in 44th place in 2022) UZ Gent in 123rd place (in 113th place in 2022), Erasmus Hospital in 146th place (in 134th place in 2022) and Cliniques Universitaires St Luc in 200th place (in 151st place in 2022).

The first four hospitals in the world ranking are American. It is home to the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Johns Hopkins Hospital.

29 Belgian general hospitals are included in a list of the American magazine (see table below)

The best according to specialties

The Top 300 hospitals specializing in Cardiology, Cardiac Surgery, Cancer, Endocrinology, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology, Gastroenterology, Pediatrics and Urology are displayed in a separate list . In 298th place, we find the Cliniques Universitaires St Luc with their King Albert II Institute.

We also note that Belgian hospitals have disappeared from the Cardiac Surgery ranking , in 2022 UZ Leuven was 141st out of 150; in Neurosurgery where Erasmus Hospital was in 2022 119th out of 125.

On the other hand, we find this year in Gastroenterology , the St Luc university clinics 115th out of 125 (in 2022 91st out of 125) and the Erasmus hospital 90th out of 125 (in 2022 93rd out of 125); in pulmonology , the St Luc university clinics 71st out of 125 (in 2022 57th out of 125) and UZ Leuven 73rd out of 125 (in 2022 67th out of 125). No Belgian hospitals in the new urology ranking .

The best in the use of digital technologies

For the second year, Newsweek and Statista have compiled a list of hospitals that are making the best use of the most advanced technologies. This new ranking, World’s Best Smart Hospitals 2023, includes the 300 establishments that are leading in their use of AI, digital imaging, telemedicine, robotics and other electronic functionalities. At 158th place are the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, at 165th place the Erasmus Hospital and at 250th place the AZ Maria Middelares in Ghent.

The 28 countries were selected primarily based on standard of living/life expectancy, population size, number of hospitals and data availability. All according to a detailed methodology .

The lists are based on several data sources:

• Recommendations from medical experts (doctors, hospital managers, healthcare professionals)
• Results of patient surveys
• Medical KPIs on hospitals
• Implementation of PROMs

Each hospital in each country is evaluated by a score. Scores are only comparable between hospitals in the same country.