U.S. News & World Report, a global authority in hospital rankings, has released the 2017-18 Best Hospitals rankings.

In their 28th year, the rankings and ratings compare 400 medical centres across the USA in 25 specialties, procedures and conditions.

For the second consecutive year Mayo Clinic claimed the No. 1 spot. Cleveland Clinic ranked No. 2, followed by Johns Hopkins Hospital at No. 3.

152 hospitals were nationally ranked in at least one specialty. For patients seeking care close to home, U.S. News also recognized 535 Best Regional Hospitals, ranking them by state and metro area based on their performance in both complex and common care.

In the specialty rankings, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre ranked No. 1 in cancer, the Cleveland Clinic is No. 1 in cardiology & heart surgery and Hospital for Special Surgery is No. 1 in orthopaedics.

The top 20 ranked facilities are:
1 Mayo Clinic Rochester
2 Cleveland Clinic
3 Johns Hopkins Hospital Baltimore
4 Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
5 UCSF Medical Centre San Francisco
6 University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centres
7 Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre Los Angeles
8 New York-Presbyterian Hospital
9 Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital
10 Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia
11 Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre Los Angeles
12 Barnes-Jewish Hospital St. Louis
13 North-Western Memorial Hospital Chicago
14 UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside Pittsburgh
15 University of Colorado Hospital Aurora
16 Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Philadelphia
17 Duke University Hospital Durham
18 Mount Sinai Hospital New York
19 NYU Langone Medical Centre New York
20 Mayo Clinic Phoenix

Top five best hospitals in selected specialties:
Cardiology & Heart Surgery
1 Cleveland Clinic
2 Mayo Clinic Rochester
3 New York-Presbyterian Hospital
4 Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre Los Angeles
5 Massachusetts General Hospital Boston

Cancer
1 University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre Houston
2 Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre New York
3 Mayo Clinic Rochester
4 Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Centre Boston
5 Seattle Cancer Care Alliance/University of Washington Medical Centre

Orthopaedics
1 Hospital for Special Surgery New York
2 Mayo Clinic Rochester
3 Cleveland Clinic
4 Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals Philadelphia
5 Rush University Medical Centre Chicago