US News & World Report just released their list of “best hospitals” for 2025-26, which is based primarily on patient outcomes for complex specialty care and common procedures. The Lown Hospitals Index for Social Responsibility takes a different approach to hospital ranking, evaluating hospitals on metrics of equity and value as well as outcomes. Here's how the 2025 US News best hospitals perform on the Lown Index. More
See which critical access hospitals made our list of most socially responsible hospitals…and which ones are at risk of shutting down services or closure. More
A federal judge recently struck down a rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) seeking to remove medical debt from credit reports. How will this affect medical debt in the future? More
Can we reduce healthcare waste while making Americans healthier? A new Medicare pilot program that uses AI is trying to do just that. Here’s what’s promising about the program, and which elements could use rethinking. More
Hospitals have a lot of leeway to decide who is eligible for financial assistance. In some cases, hospitals don't allow any elective care to be eligible. What impact could that have on health or medical debt? More
Hospital leaders explained how their institutional culture, policies, and workforce help them deliver high-quality and high-value care while still prioritizing equity. More
125 “socially responsible” hospitals earn Honor Roll status for outcomes, value, and equity BOSTON—More than 100 U.S. hospitals achieved top performance across measures of equity, value, and outcomes, according to the 2025 Lown Hospitals Index. Despite workforce shortages, rising costs, looming Medicaid cuts, and other challenges, Lown Institute analysts say this year’s Honor Roll demonstrates […] More
Register now for the webinar "America's Most Socially Responsible Hospitals" on June 25, 2025. More
Dr. Reshma Ramachandran received the 2025 Bernard Lown Award for Social Responsibility for her exceptional work promoting equitable access to medicines, mobilizing physicians nationwide to challenge pharmaceutical industry influence, and advancing legislative reforms that prioritize the public’s health over corporate profit. More
Analysis of 2,500 charity care policies finds patients with identical income and medical needs could receive free care at one hospital, yet face collections or lawsuits at another. More
Reshma Ramachandran, MD, MPP, MHS, to receive the 2025 Bernard Lown Award for Social Responsibility and $25,000 prize. More
“We’re all here because this issue is a moral stain on the fabric of the country… We’re also here because if we want to fix this, we can," Dr. Vikas Saini told the crowd at the 2025 Lown conference on Medical Debt in America. More
Hospitals in 18 states own a total of $170 billion in assessed real property value and benefit from a total of $4.3 billion in real estate tax exemptions. However, this benefit is not spread out equally among states. More
These 20 hospitals avoided nearly $1 billion in property taxes. More
What types of initiatives are hospitals investing in to improve access to care and community health? We dug into the tax forms for some of the largest fair share surplus hospitals to find out. More
Meet Emma, Lown's public health intern. Emma is a MPH student at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine. More
Meet Maya Drabczyk, Lown's public health intern and a Masters of Public Health student at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine. At Dartmouth she is a member of the Graduate Consulting Group and a Global Health Fellow. More
Medical debt is associated with poor financial and health outcomes. So why don't we see more positive effects when medical debt is relieved? More
Unlike other forms of debt, medical debt is extremely hard to avoid; nobody chooses to get sick, have an accident, or need emergency care. If you’re worried about medical debt, here are three ways you can help reduce your risk of debt. More
A recent investigation of the Mayo Clinic by the state AG found that the hospital put up barriers to financial assistance. More