Premier Announces the Nation’s 15 Top Health Systems® Recognized by Modern Healthcare
Premier Announces the Nation’s 15 Top Health Systems® Recognized by Modern Healthcare
The annual study provides healthcare leaders with benchmarks and insights to guide performance improvement efforts.
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Premier, Inc., a leading technology-driven healthcare improvement company, today announced the nation’s 15 Top Health Systems®, with the full list of recognized health systems published by Modern Healthcare. The annual study identifies top-performing health systems nationwide based on an objective, quantitative analysis of publicly available data.
“The 15 Top Health Systems® study is more than a recognition program — it is a roadmap for performance improvement.” - David Zito, President of Performance Services at Premier
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Premier’s 15 Top Health Systems® study evaluates health system performance across clinical outcomes, operational efficiency and patient experience to highlight organizations delivering consistent, balanced and sustainable high performance.
Performance Across Top Health Systems
Compared to peer health systems, this year’s top performers delivered significantly better outcomes while operating more efficiently. Notably, the nation’s 15 Top Health Systems outperformed peer systems across all eight measured performance indicators included in the study.
Key findings from this year’s analysis include:
- 22.3 percent lower inpatient mortality compared to peers.
- Fewer healthcare-associated infections, with a 28.6 percent difference in performance.
- Shorter average length of stay across all system sizes.
- Lower overall episode-of-care costs and improved efficiency.
These results reflect the ability of top-performing systems to deliver high-quality care while maintaining operational efficiency and alignment across their hospitals.
Driving Consistent, System-Wide Performance
To determine the 2026 list, Premier researchers evaluated 336 health systems nationwide. Systems included in the study must have at least two short-term, acute care hospitals and meet established inclusion criteria. The analysis aggregates data across each system’s hospitals to evaluate performance at the enterprise level.
As with all Premier performance studies, participation is not application-based. Health systems do not opt in or out and are never asked to pay for inclusion, ensuring an objective and transparent assessment.
“The 15 Top Health Systems® study is more than a recognition program — it is a roadmap for performance improvement,” said David Zito, President of Performance Services at Premier. “By identifying what top-performing systems do differently, we provide healthcare leaders with actionable insights to help drive better outcomes, improve efficiency and strengthen the patient experience across their organizations.”
Study Methodology
The study is based on a balanced scorecard of measures across clinical outcomes, operational performance and patient experience. It uses publicly available data sources including Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Care Compare datasets.
For 2026, updates to the methodology include:
- Adoption of the 30-day hybrid hospital-wide readmission measure, which incorporates both claims-based and electronic health record data.
- Reintroduction of the Medicare Spend Per Beneficiary (MSPB) measure.
These updates enhance the accuracy of performance measurement and provide a more comprehensive view of health system performance.
Health systems are categorized by size (large, medium and small) to account for differences in scale, enabling fair comparisons among peer organizations.
For more information, including the full list of winners and detailed methodology, visit https://www.modernhealthcare.com/awards/mh-premier-100-top-hospitals-2026/.
About Premier, Inc.
Premier, Inc. is a leading technology-driven healthcare improvement company. Playing a critical role in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry, Premier unites providers, suppliers and payers to make healthcare better with national scale, smarter with actionable intelligence and faster with novel technologies. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier offers integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, advisory services and other solutions in service of our mission to improve the health of communities. Please visit Premier’s news site at www.premierinc.com; as well as X, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and Premier’s blog for more information about the Company.
