Which hospitals are the best in the country? The news magazine FOCUS has published its annual ranking, in which the University Hospital Ulm (UKU) takes an excellent 18th place in the overall evaluation. FOCUS compares a total of approximately 1,680 hospitals throughout Germany. The largest independent hospital ranking thus offers patients, relatives and referring doctors an orientation aid in the hospital landscape.
“Compared to the previous year, the UKU was able to improve its ranking by two places. In addition, numerous treatment focuses of our hospitals are listed in the evaluation for the first time and are thus considered particularly recommendable,” emphasises Professor Udo X. Kaisers, Chief Medical Director and Chairman of the Board of the UKU. “This result is due to the dedication and high competence of our staff and is proof of the high-quality care in medicine and nursing at Ulm University Hospital. Also against the background of the challenges in the past months and with a view to the new and more stringent evaluation principle of the research institute, we are pleased with the ranking,” Professor Kaisers continued.
The placement of a hospital in the ranking of the top 100 hospitals is based on the number of its awards for specialist departments and, for the first time, also on how many FOCUS-TOP physicians are employed at the hospital. In total, the news magazine lists 44 of a possible 58 treatment specialities, i.e. over 75 percent, as particularly recommendable in the detailed evaluation. Last year it was 20 for the UKU.
“The ranking is an extraordinary success for all employees. The high proportion of excellent departments is particularly noteworthy. In view of the total number of our specialist departments (26), the University Hospital has performed outstandingly here,” emphasises Dr Oliver Mayer, Head of the Quality and Risk Management Unit at the UKU.
The Clinic for Ophthalmology and the Clinic for Ear, Nose and Throat Medicine, Head and Neck Surgery are represented in the ranking for the first time. The clinics were immediately successful in all newly listed treatment foci. The focus on the desire to have children, which is being reported for the first time and is located at the Clinic for Gynaecology and Obstetrics, also made it directly into the TOP ranking. The Clinic for Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine can be pleased about the recommendation in the new field of neuropaediatrics for the first time. The focus on prostate cancer at the Clinic for Urology and Paediatric Urology was already represented in the ranking in previous years, but the current list now includes four further areas of the clinic, including bladder, kidney and testicular cancer.
Completely new in this year’s evaluation is the category “Clinics for international patients”. This category recommends clinics that are particularly well equipped to meet the needs of patients from abroad. The UKU is represented in this new category with seven clinics.
For the hospital ranking, the research institute FactField evaluated over 50 different sources and used a new system. The structured quality reports of the hospitals are included in the evaluation. These contain, among other things, performance data, information on technical equipment and certificates from professional associations. Furthermore, participation in quality initiatives is documented. “Here, the UKU has been successfully involved for years in the Quality Medicine Initiative (IQM) as well as in the German Quality Alliance Sepsis (DQS) in order to continuously improve patient treatment and safety,” says Dr Mayer. “We disclose our quality data with regard to these two quality initiatives and do not shy away from comparison with the competition, because transparency is a decisive factor for us,” explains Dr Mayer. In addition, various specialists from each hospital (quality managers, nursing directors, medical directors) provide self-reporting information via extensive questionnaires. Finally, the expert recommendations of more than 15,000 doctors in private practice, hospital doctors and other hospitals as well as patient satisfaction are included. At the end of the research, each specialist hospital receives zero to one point for a total of five recommendation criteria, which are incorporated into the overall score with varying weighting. The medical score is the most important criterion for medical quality.
The FOCUS editorial team recommends the following clinics for:
General and Visceral Surgery (Prof. Dr. Christoph Michalski)
- Biliary surgery
Eye Clinic (Prof. Dr. Armin Wolf)
- Corneal diseases
- Refractive surgery & cataract
Dermatology and Allergology (Prof. Dr. Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek)
- Skin
- Skin cancer
Gynaecology and Obstetrics (Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Janni)
- Breast cancer
- Gynaecological surgery
- Gynaecological oncology
- Fertility
- Clinic for international patients
- Risk birth and prenatal diagnostics
Otorhinolaryngology, head and neck surgery (Prof. Dr. med. T. Hoffmann)
- Head and neck tumours
Cardiac, thoracic and vascular surgery (Prof. Dr. Andreas Liebold)
- Vascular surgery
- Cardiac surgery
- Clinic for International Patients
Internal Medicine I (Prof. Dr. Thomas Seufferlein)
- Bowel cancer
- Diabetes
Internal Medicine II (Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Rottbauer)
- Cardiology
- Clinic for International Patients
- Lung tumours
- Rhythmology
Internal Medicine III (Prof. Dr. Hartmut Döhner)
- Leukaemia
- Lymphomas
- Clinic for international patients
- Bone cancer
Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (Prof. Dr. Klaus-Michael Debatin)
- Diabetes
- Neonatology
- Neuropaediatrics
Neurosurgery (Prof. Dr. Christian Rainer Wirtz)
- Brain tumours
- Clinic for international patients
Nuclear Medicine (Prof. Dr. Ambros Beer)
- Nuclear Medicine
Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III (Prof. Dr. Dr. Manfred Spitzer)
- Depression
Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy (Prof. Dr. Harald Gündel)
- Eating disorders
- Pain disorders
Radiotherapy and Radiooncology (Prof. Dr. Thomas Wiegel)
- Radiotherapy
Trauma, Hand, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (Prof. Dr. Florian Gebhard)
- Hand surgery
- Clinic for international patients
- Bone cancer
- Trauma surgery
Urology and paediatric urology (Prof. Dr. Christian Bolenz)
- Bladder cancer
- Testicular cancer
- Clinic for international patients
- Kidney cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Prostate syndrome
Orthopaedic University Clinic, RKU – University and Rehabilitation Clinics (Prof. Dr. H. Reichel)
- Hip surgery
- Bone cancer
- Sports medicine/orthopaedics
Neurological University Hospital, RKU – University and Rehabilitation Clinics ( Dr. A. C. Ludolph)
- Dementias
- multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson’s disease
