Cleveland Clinic vs. Mayo Clinic

When you think about America's top hospitals, two names probably spring to mind — Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. Both healthcare providers regularly receive recognition as two of the best American and international healthcare systems, so choosing between them can be challenging.

Below, we'll explore the Cleveland Clinic vs. Mayo Clinic debate and provide insights on safety, specialties and patient feedback to help you pick the best option for your condition and circumstances. 

About Cleveland Clinic

Established in 1921, Cleveland Clinic is an international healthcare system with over 200 hospitals and clinics. Its network of practices provides routine healthcare, emergency healthcare and specialist treatment. It consistently ranks as one of the top American and global healthcare providers, employing 65,000 healthcare professionals and treating nearly 6 million patients annually. 

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic was founded in 1883 as the USA's first group practice, which rapidly grew to become a vast nonprofit healthcare organization focusing on patient care, education and ongoing medical research. The Mayo Clinic Health System treats around 1.4 million patients with complex or serious conditions each year and employs more than 73,000 people. 

Cleveland Clinic vs. Mayo Clinic: Which Is Better?

According to the 2022-2023 U.S. News Best Hospitals Honor Roll, Mayo Clinic is currently the best hospital in the United States, with Cleveland Clinic coming in fourth. For that reason, you might assume at first glance that Mayo Clinic is the better hospital. However, it's important to remember that these rankings summarize multiple performance areas, so Cleveland Clinic may be a better option for certain patients. 

The Best Hospitals Honor Role evaluates 15 specialties and 20 procedures and conditions to determine its rankings. Currently, Mayo Clinic ranks in 14 adult specialties, while Cleveland Clinic ranks in 13. For context, only 164 out of a total of 5,000 hospitals were ranked in any specialty, highlighting that both Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic are truly exceptional.

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Cleveland Clinic vs. Mayo Clinic by Specialty

Although Mayo Clinic is the top-ranking hospital in the United States, that doesn't mean it ranks highest for every specialty. Therefore, which hospital you should choose depends partly on your condition. The table below compares Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic by specialty, including their rank and score on the Best Hospitals Honor Roll.

Cancer

Mayo Clinic ranks third for cancer care, while Cleveland Clinic ranks sixth. Both clinics received excellent scores for 30-day survival rates and patient services, although Mayo Clinic ranks slightly higher for patient experience. 

Cardiology and Heart Surgery

Cleveland Clinic is the top-ranking hospital for cardiology and heart surgery, achieving an impressive overall score of 100/100. The clinic's 30-day survival and discharge rates are excellent, and a high proportion of specialist doctors named Cleveland Clinic one of the best for treating challenging cases. Mayo Clinic has the second-highest rank in Cardiology and Heart Surgery, scoring 89/100.

Diabetes and Endocrinology

Once again, Mayo Clinic tops the list of the best hospitals for diabetes and endocrinology care, with a score of 100/100. Cleveland Clinic ranks somewhat lower at number eleven with a score of 73.7/100, receiving fewer marks for patient experience than Mayo Clinic. Overall, a higher percentage of surveyed diabetes and endocrinology specialists recommended Mayo Clinic for complex cases compared to Cleveland Clinic.

Patient Experience

The Best Hospitals Honor Roll also assigns hospitals a score based on patient feedback following discharge. Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic both received four out of five stars for patient satisfaction, and respondents were equally willing to recommend both clinics. 

The survey results show that patients were slightly more satisfied with their overall experience at Mayo Clinic compared to Cleveland Clinic, with the hospitals scoring five and four stars respectively for this factor. While Mayo Clinic didn't score lower than four stars in any category, Cleveland Clinic scores relatively poorly for noise levels.

Respondents gave Cleveland Clinic just two stars for medication harm prevention. In this context, harm prevention refers to how well clinicians explain the potential side effects of medications and how to take them safely. 

Cleveland Clinic vs. Mayo Clinic: Which Hospital Is Safer?

Although things can occasionally go wrong in any hospital, checking factors such as infection rates and post-surgery issues can help you gauge how safe an individual hospital is compared to other clinics. The Leapfrog Group is an independent body that monitors hospital safety and assigns grades from A (the best) to F (the worst.)

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation has a Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade of A. Overall, the organization has relatively low MRSA, sepsis and urinary tract infection rates, although blood infections occur more frequently. The Leapfrog Group's data shows that Cleveland Clinic performs exceptionally well in terms of effective leadership, practitioner communication, nursing levels and ICU staffing — factors essential for preventing serious errors. However, the results reflect the patient feedback from the Best Hospitals Honor Roll survey, highlighting communication about medications as an issue.

Meanwhile, the Mayo Clinic Health System received an A rating. Like Cleveland Clinic, it scores particularly highly for leadership and staffing. Overall, adverse events, such as falls and bed sores, are relatively rare, although the data highlights blood clots in the lungs as an area of potential concern. Infection prevention appears to be a strong point, although the results show that sepsis management may be an issue. 

However, as each hospital has multiple clinics, it's essential to check the data for your specific hospital, instead of relying on data for the health system as a whole. While all Mayo Clinic locations have A ratings, Cleveland Clinic locations are less consistent, with ratings ranging from A to C.

How Many Clinics Does Each Hospital Operate?

For many people, location will be a deciding factor when choosing a hospital. Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic both operate multiple clinics, but one may be more convenient, depending on where you live. 

Mayo Clinic Locations

Mayo Clinic has hospital campuses in three states, and it also operates overseas clinics in London in the UK and Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Its USA locations are:

• Phoenix, Arizona
• Scottsdale, Arizona
• Jacksonville, Florida
• Rochester, Minnesota

Cleveland Clinic Locations

Cleveland Clinic has major hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio and Weston, Florida, and operates numerous smaller clinics across these states. You can also access overseas Cleveland Clinic hospitals in the following locations:

• Abu Dhabi, UAE
• Toronto, Canada
• London, UK