U.S. News & World Report 2026-2027 Best Hospitals rankings
Solventum AM-PPCs support cardiology specialty ranking and other outpatient quality measures
As more care moves to outpatient settings, patients, hospitals and health systems need trusted ways to understand quality beyond the hospital stay. U.S. News & World Report and Solventum work together to bring greater transparency to ambulatory care. U.S. News uses the Solventum™ Ambulatory Potentially Preventable Complications (AM-PPCs) Classification System to inform outpatient quality measures within select Best Hospitals rankings.
What’s new for 2026–2027
U.S. News & World Report is rolling out new methodology updates for the 2026–2027 Best Hospitals rankings, with a stronger emphasis on risk-adjusted outcomes, outpatient quality and procedural safety. As outpatient procedures continue to represent a larger share of specialty care, Solventum AM-PPCs are being used to amplify outpatient procedure outcome measurement and bring greater visibility to potentially preventable complications following ambulatory care.
Key updates include:
Overview
For more than three decades, U.S. News & World Report has helped patients and families make informed healthcare decisions by evaluating hospital quality through objective measures. Its Best Hospitals rankings are among the nation’s most recognized resources for identifying organizations that deliver exceptional care.
Now that many procedures once performed during an inpatient stay are often delivered in hospital outpatient departments, quality measurement must also evolve – especially since meaningful outcomes may emerge after patients leave an ambulatory care facility. Measuring outpatient procedural complications requires connecting downstream events to the original procedure and evaluating performance across care settings.
This is where the Solventum AM-PPC Classification System comes in, helping track the patient journey after an elective outpatient procedure and linking it to clinically related, potentially preventable complications that occur within 30 days via an emergency department visit or hospital admission.
Together, U.S. News & World Report and Solventum are advancing a more complete view of healthcare quality, one that reflects the shift to ambulatory care, follows patients beyond the procedure and brings greater visibility, accountability and confidence to outpatient outcomes.
Solventum AM-PPCs in U.S. News Best Hospitals rankings and measures
U.S. News & World Report uses Solventum AM-PPCs to support outpatient procedure quality measurement within selected Best Hospitals rankings, ratings and measures. This includes the Prevention of Outpatient Procedural Complications measure, which helps evaluate whether patients experience clinically related complications after select outpatient procedures – extending quality measurement beyond the procedure itself and into the recovery period.
Solventum AM-PPCs align with U.S. News’ broader methodology evolution toward greater emphasis on objective, risk-adjusted outcome measures. Since their initial inclusion, U.S. News has expanded use of Solventum AM-PPCs to 10 cohorts across the 2026-2027 Best Hospitals Ratings and Rankings.
National Specialty Rankings:
- Orthopedics – Outpatient Outcome & Volume (New for 2026-2027)
- Urology – Outpatient Outcome
- Obstetrics & Gynecology – Outpatient Volume
- Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Surgery – Outpatient Outcome (New for 2026-2027)
Regional Specialty Rankings:
- Orthopedics – Outpatient Outcome & Volume
- Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Surgery – Outpatient Outcome (New for 2026-2027)
Procedures & Conditions Ratings:
- Gynecological Cancer Surgery – Outpatient Outcome & Volume
- Prostate Cancer Surgery – Outpatient Outcome & Volume
- Hip Replacement – Outpatient Outcome & Volume
- Knee Replacement – Outpatient Outcome & Volume
- Pacemaker Implantation – Outpatient Outcome & Volume
- Ear, Nose & Throat Surgery – Outpatient Outcome & Volume
Bolded items above are new for 2026–2027
Who this helps
| Audience | Value |
|---|---|
| Patients and families | Greater transparency into outpatient outcomes and additional information to support informed healthcare decisions |
| Hospitals and health systems | Risk-adjusted benchmarking, actionable performance insights and recognition for exceptional outpatient care |
| Healthcare leaders | Evidence-based insight to support strategic quality initiatives and a more complete view of outcomes across the care continuum |
“As the healthcare landscape continues to shift towards outpatient care, Solventum is excited to see U.S. News & World Report’s inclusion of our AM-PPCs into its cardiology specialty ranking and the incorporation of Solventum’s patient comorbidity risk adjustment tool into their outpatient procedural complication measure.”
Global Chief Medical Officer, Health Information Systems, Solventum
“This year, U.S. News doubled the weight of the Prevention of Outpatient Procedural Complications measure from 5% to 10% for applicable Procedures & Conditions cohorts, placing greater emphasis on outcomes that matter to patients. As more care continues to shift to outpatient settings, measuring quality and safety in those environments is increasingly important. Our work with Solventum helps bring greater visibility to outpatient procedural complications and supports a more complete view of hospital performance across inpatient and outpatient care.”
Chief of Health Analysis and Managing Editor, U.S. News & World Report
Looking ahead
Healthcare continues to evolve, and quality measurement must evolve with it. As ambulatory care becomes an increasingly important part of healthcare delivery, outcome measurement will play a growing role in helping patients make informed choices and recognizing provider organizations that deliver exceptional care.
Through continued research, methodological innovation and collaboration, U.S. News and Solventum are helping shape the future of outpatient quality measurement — supporting better decisions, better outcomes and safer care for patients everywhere.