America’s Best Hospitals 2008 Methodology Emily McFarlane Joe Murphy Murrey G. Olmsted Edward M. Drozd Craig Hill To Whom it May Concern: U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” study is the sole and exclusive property of U.S. News & World Report, which owns all rights, including but not limited to copyright, in and to the attached data and material. Any party wishing to cite, reference, publish, or otherwise disclose the information contained herein may do so only with the prior written consent of U.S. News. Any U.S. News-approved reference or citation must identify the source as “U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Hospitals” and, with the exception of academic journals, must include the following credit line: “Data reprinted with permission from U.S. News & World Report.” For permission to cite or use in any other way, contact
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[email protected]. Table of Contents I. Introduction....................................................................................................................... 1 A. Index of Hospital Quality........................................................................................... 2 Structure..................................................................................................................... 3 Process