Karolinska Advances in Newsweek’s Ranking of "World's Best Specialized Hospitals"
The magazine Newsweek and the analytics firm Statista have published their fifth global ranking of hospitals leading in twelve medical fields: cardiac surgery, cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology, neurosurgery, oncology, orthopedics, pediatrics, pulmonology, urology, and obstetrics/gynecology. For the first time, Karolinska University Hospital has made the global top list in all twelve specialties.
The highest global ranking for Karolinska is in cardiology, where it ranks 20th, followed by neurosurgery at 25th, neurology at 27th, and endocrinology at 28th. Globally, Karolinska improved its ranking in ten medical fields, maintained its position in one, and dropped two places in another.
In Europe, Karolinska University Hospital is ranked the 7th best hospital in cardiology, endocrinology, neurology, and neurosurgery. Cardiac surgery is ranked 9th, orthopedics 13th, and Karolinska is considered the 15th best hospital for oncology.
Several Factors Behind the Success
In the Nordic region, Karolinska University Hospital holds a distinguished position. In ten of the twelve medical specialties, the hospital is ranked best in the Nordics, while it is ranked second in two areas.
“These are excellent results and further confirmation that, together at Karolinska, we provide world-class healthcare, and that the hospital's development in recent years has been successful. Very few hospitals can offer such high-quality care across so many medical specialties,” says Patrik Rossi, Acting CEO of Karolinska University Hospital.
“I believe that key reasons for our success are our patient-centered approach, the close governance of the care units, and the decentralized decision-making that allows decisions to be made as close to the clinical environment as possible, fostering innovative solutions. The hospital’s close collaboration with research and education at Karolinska Institute, and our ability to rapidly implement research findings and new smart technology into clinical practice, are also crucial,” Rossi continues.
“Sometimes I encounter objections to these types of rankings from international and Swedish colleagues. Of course, the results aren’t entirely precise or tell the whole story. However, I’m quite sure that Karolinska's consistently good performance, and our improvements in many rankings year after year—this year, we've climbed in ten areas—reflect a hospital that delivers world-class care and has made significant advancements in recent years,” Rossi concludes.
Obstetrics and Gynecology Now Included in the Ranking
In Newsweek and Statista’s study, the top 100 hospitals worldwide in obstetrics and gynecology are ranked. The care provided by the Medical Unit for Pregnancy and Childbirth, Gynecology, and Reproductive Medicine within the Women's Health and Allied Health Professionals Theme at Karolinska University Hospital is ranked among the top 100 for the first time. According to the ranking, the department is placed 90th globally, 40th in Europe, and is the top-ranked hospital in the Nordics.
“The department continues its work to further improve the quality of maternity care at Karolinska University Hospital. Despite the challenges we've faced, the highly specialized obstetric care is ranked highly, which is gratifying,” says Pia Teleman, Head of the Pregnancy and Childbirth Unit at Karolinska University Hospital.
“This is a positive recognition. We provide highly specialized care in gynecology and reproductive medicine and are particularly strong in a few key areas, such as pelvic floor surgery, reproductive medicine, and gynecological endocrinology. We also offer very high-quality care and research in abortion care and prevention. In several fields, we collaborate with leading research groups in basic science, which allows us to ask in-depth research questions, a strategy that has been particularly successful in recent years,” says Sebastian Brusell Gidlöf, Director of Medical Unit Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine at Karolinska University Hospital.
Urology at Karolinska Among the World’s Best
In Newsweek and Statista’s study, the top 125 hospitals worldwide in the field of urology are ranked. Karolinska’s urology department is ranked 117th globally and 41st in Europe. It is considered the best in the Nordics.
“We provide cutting-edge urological care and strive to quickly adopt new methods, technologies, and research to continuously improve the care we deliver to our patients. Our extensive collaboration with national and international urological colleagues allows us and our patients to rapidly benefit from new scientific discoveries and technology. We aim to continuously evolve in our field, and positive recognition from colleagues worldwide helps translate that into clinical reality for the patients we see every day,” says Mats Bergkvist, Head of the Urology Section at Karolinska University Hospital.
You can find the full ranking here.
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Text: Kristian Brangenfeldt.