The World’s Best Specialized Hospitals 2026 ranking awards the leading hospitals worldwide in 12 medical fields: cardiac surgery, cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology, neurosurgery, oncology, orthopedics, pediatrics, pulmonology, urology and obstetrics & gynecology.
The rankings are based on three data pillars:
1. International online survey
2. Accreditation data
3. PROMs Implementation Survey
Data collection
1. International online survey
During the survey period from May to July 2025, health care professionals and hospital managers were invited to an online survey in cooperation with Newsweek. Invitations were sent by email, and the survey was also promoted on newsweek.com. Participants were asked to recommend hospitals based on their primary field of expertise (e.g., cardiology for cardiologists) and could optionally choose a secondary medical field where they had additional knowledge, due to interdisciplinary cooperation. For pediatrics, participants had the opportunity to name a standout specialty from the following categories: cardiology, cardiac surgery, endocrinology, gastroenterology, oncology, neurology, neurosurgery, neonatology, orthopedics and urology. Recommendations for participants’ own hospital or employer were not allowed.
In addition, recommendation data from the previous two years was also factored into the reputation pillar. The professional experience of each participant was considered. Each facility received a specialty-specific score based on the number of weighted recommendations.
Future survey cycles will be announced on newsweek.com and via e-mail to preregistered participants. Preregistration is available here.
2. Accreditation Data
Relevant accreditations and certifications have been incorporated into the scoring model wherever available. This includes both general hospital certifications, accreditations and those specific to particular medical fields, e.g., a pediatric specialty program for pediatrics or a brain injury specialty program for neurology. These accreditations and certifications reflect a range of structural and quality requirements important for the specialized rankings.
3. PROMs Implementation Survey
Hospitals received a PROMs implementation score based on data submitted via an annual survey on their implementation of Patient Reported Outcome Measures. This voluntary survey evaluates how hospitals collect, analyze and use PROMs to improve quality of care within each medical specialty.
PROMs are standardized, validated questionnaires completed by patients to assess their perception of their functional well-being and quality of life. In fall/winter each year, Newsweek and Statista conduct the PROMs Implementation Survey to determine the status quo of PROMs implementation, auditing and reporting of the data and whether the PROMs data is used to optimize care process and support therapeutic decisions in real-time. Only hospitals that participated in the survey were assigned a PROMs implementation score, which was factored into the overall scoring model.
Future cycles will be announced on newsweek.com and via e-mail to preregistered participants. Preregistration is available here.
Global board of medical experts
A global board of renowned experts provided guidance and feedback in the design of the PROMs Implementation survey:
Prof. Dr. David Bates, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, U.S.
Dr. Gary Kaplan, CEO Emeritus, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, CommonSpirit Board of Trustees, U.S.
Prof. Dr. med. Christoph Meier, Director, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Zürich, Switzerland
Prof. Dr. Eyal Zimlichman, MD, Chief Transformation and Innovation Officer, Sheba Medical Center, Israel
Prof. Dr. Gregory Katz, Chair of Innovation Management & Value in Health, University of Paris Medical School, France
Dr. med. Jens Deerberg-Wittram, Senior Fellow, Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research CPCOR, Germany
For the evaluation, Statista applies a scoring model. The scores were calculated for each hospital in each of the three pillars and weighed as follows:
I. Recommendations from peers (85 percent)
II. Accreditations /Certifications (10 percent)
III. PROMs Implementation Survey (5 percent)
Hospitals that specialize in more than one medical field received specific recommendation scores for each medical field based on the respective recommendations. Therefore, one hospital can be represented in more than one list if it receives enough recommendations in each medical field.
This year’s ranking features the top 300 hospitals for cardiology and oncology; the top 250 for pediatrics; the top 150 for cardiac surgery, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology, orthopedics and pulmonology; and the top 125 for neurosurgery, urology and obstetrics & gynecology.
Download the full methodology here.
Download the extended methodology here.
Disclaimer
The rankings are comprised exclusively of hospitals that are eligible regarding the scope described in this document. The ranking is the result of an elaborate process which, due to the interval of data-collection and analysis, is a reflection of the last 12 months. Furthermore, events preceding or following the period July 1, 2024 – July 1, 2025, and/or pertaining to individual persons affiliated/associated with the facilities were not included in the metrics. As such, the results of this ranking should not be used as the sole source of information for future deliberations.
The information provided in this ranking should be considered in conjunction with other available information about hospitals or, if possible, accompanied by a visit to a facility. The quality of hospitals that are not included in the rankings is not disputed.
About Statista R
Statista R is a world leader in the creation of company, brand and product rankings and top lists, based on comprehensive market research and data analysis: Statista R recognizes the best. With a team of over 100 expert analysts and in cooperation with more than 40 high-profile media brands across all continents, Statista R creates transparency for consumers and business decision-makers and helps companies build trust and recognition across a plethora of industries and product categories. Visit r.statista.com.
Statista R is a division of Statista. The leading data and business intelligence portal provides an extensive collection of statistics, reports and insights on over 80,000 topics from 22,500 sources in 170 industries. Find out more at statista.com.
About ICHOM
The International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (www.ichom.org) is the leading nonprofit dedicated to transforming healthccare by focusing on what truly matters to patients. They accomplish this by empowering patient and clinical leaders to standardize important clinical, quality of life, function and experience results for health care and enabling transparent large-scale use to achieve patient-centric health system transformation. ICHOM's standardized “sets” of patient-centered outcomes measures help all actors in healthccare design, deliver and evaluate care based on outcomes that matter to patients. To date, ICHOM has developed 45 outcome measure sets for conditions. The sets are available in IT-ready interoperable formats and have been implemented in 500+ care settings in 42+ countries.
