Which Austin-area hospital scored the best in equity, costs and outcomes?

Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Pflugerville ranked No. 2 in the Lown Institute's 2024 list of America's most socially responsible hospitals out of 2,700 facilities.

What is a "socially responsible hospital?" The independent think tank's hospitals index looks at equity measures such as inclusivity based on Census Bureau data and medical records of who is being served, pay equity by comparing what housekeeping staff make to what the CEO makes, and community benefit. It considers value with cost efficiency measures and whether a hospital avoided overuse of procedures. Then it looks at outcomes of care including clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction and patient safety.

Data for the rankings come from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Medicare and Medicaid claims, and IRS forms.

So who was No. 1?

Duke Regional Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.

How did other local hospitals rank?

36. Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas.

44. Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Marble Falls.

134. St. David's South Austin Medical Center.

146. Christus Santa Rosa Hospital — San Marcos

The other hospitals did not make the honor roll criteria.

What about the hospital systems overall?

None of the local hospital systems of Ascension Texas (Ascension Health Care), St. David's HealthCare (HCA) or Baylor Scott & White made the top 10 most socially responsible hospital systems.

HCA (St. David's) ranked 18th.

Baylor Scott & White ranked 23rd.

Ascension Health Care ranked 90th.

How should you consider these rankings?

These rankings are different than other rankings because they place a heavy emphasis on equity.

“Great care is only great if everyone can access it,” said Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute. “Socially responsible hospitals are trusted to provide high-quality care to all, and their success directly improves the health and economic stability of their communities.”

This is just one of the ranking systems hospitals fall into.

Newsweek recently ranked America's best hospitals for maternity care and six local hospitals made that list.

Fortune magazine named three local hospital to its top 100 hospitals list.

The Leapfrog Group ranks all hospitals mainly by safety.

These rankings are information, but there's not a clear winning hospital that shows up at the top of all of these lists.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Which Austin-area hospital scored the best in equity, costs and outcomes?