Avant-garde Health Reveals the Top 13 Research Hospitals in the U.S.

What You Should Know: 

– Avant-garde Health, an AI-driven healthcare analytics company unveiled its list of the top 1% of research hospitals in the United States. The rankings, derived from an analysis of published research from 4,700 hospitals, identify 13 elite healthcare systems that are at the forefront of medical innovation.

– The analysis is a key feature of Avant-garde Health’s 2025 All-Stars Report, which also identifies top physician researchers. The methodology required hospitals to appear in Medicare claims, have at least 50 practicing physicians, and provide care in at least ten medical or surgical specialties. For specialty-specific rankings, hospitals with fewer than five physicians in a given specialty were excluded.

Avant-garde Health’s Top 1% of Research Hospitals in the U.S.

• Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
• Duke University Hospital, Durham, NC
• Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
• Mayo Clinic Hospital Rochester, Rochester, MN
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Montvale, NJ
• The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD
• The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH
• The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL
• The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
• UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
• University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI
• University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, VA

Geographic “Hot Spots” of Research Excellence

The report highlights that three of the top 1% of research hospitals are located in Boston, an area identified by Avant-garde Health as the leading geographic “hot spot” for healthcare research. Other notable areas of research excellence include coastal regions, the Great Lakes area, and key urban hubs.

“Our list puts a spotlight on the hospitals that are driving innovation across the healthcare landscape. Their commitment to research—and ability to challenge conventional wisdom—translates to improved treatments, technologies, and clinical outcomes,” said Dr. Porter Jones, Chief Medical Officer for Avant-garde Health. “Our analysis not only identifies the top research hospitals, but also geographic clusters of research excellence. Within these regions, competition for skilled researchers and clinicians is particularly intense,” added Dr. Jones. “As physician shortages continue to escalate in the coming years, these geographic areas will likely serve as strategic opportunities for hospitals across the country to recruit and retain top-tier research talent.”