Best hospitals for heart surgery by state in the United States: Reporting on state-level leaders, outcomes signals, and data sources

U.S. News, Healthgrades, and related specialty ranking programs publish state- and region-focused lists for cardiology, cardiac surgery, and heart care that patients often use as a starting point for choosing complex treatment. The state-by-state concept is echoed in Healthgrades’ framework for Cardiac Care State Rankings and Cardiac Surgery State Rankings, and in U.S. News’ expansion toward regional specialty rankings for Cardiology, Heart and Vascular Surgery. 1

Because these are multi-factor rankings rather than direct surgery-specific registries for every hospital, the most reliable use is as a screening signal combined with verification of procedure-specific volumes, risk adjustment, and follow-up care. 2

How “best hospitals by state” is defined in major ranking systems

Several organizations use different denominators for “heart surgery”. Healthgrades frames cardiac performance through specialty achievements that include state rankings for Cardiac Care and Cardiac Surgery, with eligibility limited to specific states and procedures. 1

Becker’s reporting on Healthgrades also clarifies what the Cardiac Surgery Excellence Award evaluates, describing it as clinical outcomes in coronary artery bypass graft surgery and valve surgery, based on an evaluation of hospitals across multiple procedures and conditions. 3

U.S. News uses outcome-weighted scoring for cardiology and heart and vascular surgery categories, describing increased statistical weight on risk-adjusted outcome measures such as survival and complication rates. 4

Methodology differences matter for interpretation. A hospital could appear in one program because it performs strongly for broad cardiac procedures, yet not appear in another program focused on CABG and valve outcomes, or not meet minimum eligibility gates. 1

State-by-state examples from Healthgrades specialty achievements and Becker’s summaries

Healthgrades describes its 2026 Cardiac State Rankings as top-three or top-five facilities for cardiac care in 14 eligible states, and top-three or top-five for cardiac surgery in seven eligible states, along with Cardiology State Rankings in 23 eligible states and Coronary Intervention State Rankings in 10 eligible states. 1

Becker’s Cardiology republished Healthgrades “Top 50 hospitals for cardiac surgery” by state, noting that eight New York hospitals made the list, the most of any state, and that Healthgrades evaluated about 4,500 hospitals across 31 procedures and conditions. 3

Using the same Healthgrades reporting format, Becker’s list provides concrete state-level placements for cardiac surgery (examples shown below). These placements reflect the Healthgrades specialty achievement methodology rather than a single CMS measure. 3

Because Becker’s excerpt shows only part of a longer list, a complete state inventory requires the full Healthgrades compilation. Still, the excerpt illustrates the specific state-by-state structure that Healthgrades uses for cardiac surgery recognition. 3

Cardiac care and cardiac surgery are not identical categories

Healthgrades separately recognizes Cardiac Care, Cardiac Surgery, Cardiology, and Coronary Intervention, each with distinct state-ranking eligibility windows and achievement types. 1

Becker’s summary of the Healthgrades “Cardiac Care Excellence Award” describes it as evaluating clinical outcomes in heart bypass surgery, coronary interventional procedures, heart valve surgery, and the treatment of heart attack and heart failure, which can broaden the set of hospitals that appear compared with a CABG and valve-only framing. 5

U.S. News’ heart specialty rankings also cover multiple cohorts and complex interventions rather than only open-heart surgery. Becker’s report on the U.S. News heart program describes cardiology, heart and vascular surgery rankings that include procedural and outcomes-based components across categories such as coronary artery bypass surgery and valve surgery cohorts. 6

A state’s “top hospitals for heart care” can therefore differ from the state’s “top hospitals for heart surgery” depending on whether valve surgery, CABG, transcatheter procedures, or broader cardiac conditions are included in the measurement model. 5

What to look for in ranking methodology, risk adjustment, and eligibility gates

Ranking inclusion often depends on eligibility gates. Becker’s reporting on U.S. News states that the cardiology heart and vascular surgery rankings began with an initial pool, then narrowed after a two-stage eligibility process involving minimum procedure volumes and a transfer-pattern check to identify major referral centers. 6

U.S. News describes the new regional specialty rankings as adding increased statistical weight on risk-adjusted patient outcome measures such as survival and complication rates. 4

CMS Care Compare datasets are another critical reference point for procedure-level outcome signals because CMS publishes comparative data used for comparing hospital outcomes and performance across cardiac-related surgeries. 7

In practice, “best by state” should be cross-checked against procedure-specific metrics that align with the intended surgery type, such as CABG versus valve surgery, rather than treated as a single universal outcome indicator. 7

Interpreting lists by state: coverage limits, maintenance realities, and patient risk tradeoffs

State-level recognition can be incomplete for two reasons. First, eligibility requirements can limit which states have state-ranking coverage under certain programs, as Healthgrades notes for 2026 state rankings and eligible state counts. 1

Second, ranking maintenance depends on annual data refresh cycles. U.S. News publishes annual Best Hospitals editions and extends the framework with regional specialty rankings, emphasizing that the scoring is derived from risk-adjusted outcomes, patient experience signals, and related factors that evolve year to year. 4

Risks of relying on rankings include category mismatch and survivorship bias in published outcomes. A hospital may rank highly for “cardiac surgery” as measured by that program’s scope, but a patient’s specific clinical risk profile and contraindications can alter suitability and expected complications. 7

Regulatory and data oversight can help validate some performance signals. CMS Hospital Compare and Care Compare are positioned as public reporting resources for hospital quality measurement, and CMS describes these datasets as part of its quality initiative materials. 8

Using multiple datasets together: a structured verification approach

A robust, non-promotional approach is to treat state rankings as hypotheses and confirm alignment with procedure cohorts and outcome definitions. CMS Care Compare and Hospital Compare provide comparative hospital performance data and are designed for outcome comparison, which can be used to validate whether a state leader also performs strongly on the relevant measure domain. 7

For cardiothoracic surgery benchmarking, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Database and quality initiatives provide national benchmarking and quality programs that hospitals reference for outcomes assessment. 9

The American College of Cardiology supports cardiovascular quality and measurement efforts through registry-based initiatives and research resources, which may inform performance assessment workflows at hospitals. 10

For additional safety and quality context, the Leapfrog Group provides hospital quality and safety ratings that can be used to compare hospitals across states, which can supplement outcome-focused rankings with safety-oriented signals. 11

• Confirm the surgery scope: CABG versus valve surgery, and whether transcatheter procedures are included.
• Check inclusion gates: minimum procedure volume thresholds and referral-center transfer-pattern eligibility can affect whether a hospital appears in a list.
• Prefer risk-adjusted outcome measures: survival and complication rates are explicitly weighted in U.S. News’ approach.
• Verify using CMS public reporting for outcome measures relevant to the procedure.

Regional specialty rankings and implications for state-level decisions

U.S. News introduced regional specialty rankings in areas including Cardiology, Heart and Vascular Surgery, aiming to help patients identify nearby hospitals that excel in specific specialties for complex treatments. 4

This matters because many complex cardiac surgery decisions involve referral patterns that do not align neatly with state borders. Even if a patient searches for “by state” leaders, regional performance rankings may better reflect the real-world referral structure that affects surgical expertise and follow-up coordination. 4

Becker’s reporting on U.S. News rankings further emphasizes eligibility checks based on transfer patterns meant to identify major referral centers, reinforcing that regional and referral-center capacity is central to what appears in complex heart programs. 6

As a result, state leader lists should be interpreted as part of a broader network of complex-care centers rather than as isolated entities. A state may have multiple leaders in one dataset and fewer in another due to scope and eligibility requirements. 1

Sources

1. https://b2b.healthgrades.com/insights/blog/the-best-cardiology-hospitals-in-2026/
2. https://www.beckerscardiology.com/cardiology/top-50-hospitals-for-cardiac-surgery-healthgrades-2/
3. https://www.beckerscardiology.com/cardiology/top-50-hospitals-for-cardiac-surgery-healthgrades-2/
4. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-news--world-report-announces-2026-2027-best-hospitals-introducing-regional-specialty-rankings-to-help-patients-find-complex-care-close-to-home-302840697.html
5. https://www.beckerscardiology.com/cardiology/top-100-hospitals-for-cardiac-care-healthgrades/
6. https://www.beckerscardiology.com/cardiology/50-best-hospitals-for-cardiology-heart-and-vascular-surgery/
7. https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/
8. https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/hospital-compare
9. https://www.sts.org/quality-initiatives
10. https://www.acc.org/quality-and-measurement
11. https://www.leapfroggroup.org/