Focus "Clinic List 2024" once again confirms excellent patient care at Ulm University Hospital and the RKU - University and Rehabilitation Clinics Ulm

In the current ranking of the magazine FOCUS, Ulm University Hospital (UKU) is listed in 14th place in Germany together with the RKU - University and Rehabilitation Clinics Ulm. In total, FOCUS compares over 1,600 hospitals throughout Germany. The largest independent hospital ranking thus serves as a source of information for patients, their relatives and doctors to better orientate themselves in the diversity of the hospital landscape.

"We are delighted to be placed in the TOP 15 of the FOCUS ranking for the first time and this confirms our continuous endeavours to further improve patient care at the UKU and RKU. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all employees who have made this excellent result possible and who contribute every day to ensuring that we can offer our patients cutting-edge university medicine at the highest level," says Professor Udo X. Kaisers, Chief Medical Director and Chairman of the Board of the UKU.

A hospital's position in the ranking of the top 100 hospitals is based on the number of awards it has received for its specialist departments and the number of FOCUS TOP doctors working at the hospital. In the current ranking, the news magazine lists a total of 19 clinics at the UKU and RKU as particularly recommendable in 50 out of 60 possible treatment specialisations. Four of the UKU's treatment specialisations were listed for the first time: The Clinic for General and Visceral Surgery, for example, can be pleased with its recommendation in the area of colorectal cancer and the Clinic for Neurosurgery with a recommendation in the area of spinal surgery. In addition, the Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy was recognised for the first time in the area of depression and the Clinic for Trauma, Hand, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in the area of hip surgery. The RKU is once again represented with a total of six award-winning areas at the Clinic for Neurology and the Clinic for Orthopaedics. "We are delighted once again to receive this award for outstanding work within orthopaedics and neurology," says RKU Managing Director Sadik Taştan, adding: "At the RKU, we are proud to contribute to this good overall result with our cutting-edge university medicine."

"The outstanding result in the current Focus ranking reflects our meticulous quality work and the successful implementation of clinical risk management at the UKU. Thanks to our outstanding performance in these areas, we are able to guarantee the highest level of patient safety," emphasises Dr Oliver Mayer, Head of Quality and Risk Management at the UKU.

Hospital ranking

The FactField research institute analyses over 50 different sources for the hospital ranking. The hospitals' structured quality reports are included in the analysis. These include performance data, information on technical equipment and certificates from specialist associations. Furthermore, participation in quality initiatives is also documented. In addition, various specialists from each hospital (quality managers, nursing directors, medical directors) provide self-disclosure via extensive questionnaires. Finally, the expert recommendations of more than 15,000 practising doctors, clinicians and other hospitals as well as patient satisfaction are included. At the end of the research, each specialist clinic receives zero to one point for a total of five recommendation criteria, which are included in the overall score with different weightings. The medical score is weighted most heavily as a measure of medical quality.

The FOCUS editorial team recommends the following clinics for:

• General and Visceral Surgery (Prof. Dr Nuh N. Rahbari)

• Biliary surgery
• Colon cancer

• Ophthalmology (Prof Dr Armin Wolf)

• Corneal diseases
• Refractive surgery & cataracts

• Dermatology and allergology (Prof Dr Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek)

• Skin cancer
• Skin cancer

• Gynaecology and Obstetrics (Prof. Dr Wolfgang Janni)

• Breast cancer
• Gynaecological surgery
• High-risk birth and prenatal diagnostics

• Ear, nose and throat medicine, head and neck surgery (Prof. Dr T. Hoffmann)

• Head and neck tumours

• Cardiac, thoracic and vascular surgery (Prof. Dr Andreas Liebold)

• Vascular surgery
• Cardiac surgery

• Cardiology - International

• Internal Medicine I (Prof Dr Thomas Seufferlein)

• Bowel cancer
• Diabetes
• Proctology

• Internal Medicine II (Prof Dr Wolfgang Rottbauer)

• Cardiology
• Lung tumours
• Rhythmology
• Cardiology - International

• Internal Medicine III (Prof Dr Hartmut Döhner)

• Leukaemia
• lymphomas
• Bone cancer
• Oncology - International

• Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (Prof. Dr Klaus-Michael Debatin)

• diabetes
• Neonatology
• Neuropaediatrics

• Neurosurgery (Prof. Dr Christian Rainer Wirtz)

• Brain tumours
• Spinal surgery

• Nuclear medicine (Prof. Dr Ambros Beer)

• Nuclear Medicine

• Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III (Prof. Dr Dr Manfred Spitzer)

• Depression

• Psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy (Prof. Dr Harald Gündel)

• Eating disorders
• Pain disorders
• Depression

• Radiotherapy and radiation oncology (Prof. Dr Thomas Wiegel)

• Radiotherapy

• Trauma, hand, plastic and reconstructive surgery (Prof Dr Florian Gebhard)

• Hand surgery
• Trauma Surgery
• Orthopaedics - International
• Hip surgery

• Urology and paediatric urology (Prof. Dr Christian Bolenz)

• Bladder cancer
• Testicular cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Prostate syndrome

• Orthopaedic University Clinic, RKU - University and Rehabilitation Clinics (Prof Dr H. Reichel)

• Hip surgery
• Bone cancer
• Sports medicine & orthopaedics

• Neurological University Clinic, RKU - University and Rehabilitation Clinics (Prof. Dr A. C. Ludolph)

• Dementias
• Multiple sclerosis
• Parkinson's disease

The best clinics in Germany

Ulm University Hospital achieves top 20 ranking in stern clinic list

Ulm University Hospital (UKU) and the RKU - University and Rehabilitation Clinics Ulm are once again among the best clinics in Germany according to the "stern-Klinikliste". Compared to the previous year, the UKU and RKU have even improved by two ranks and are in 18th place in the national top 100 ranking - with a total of 30 departments honoured.

The annual list of hospitals published by stern magazine uses various criteria to determine Germany's best hospitals and specialist departments. Compared to 2023 and 2022, Ulm University Hospital, together with the RKU, improved by two places to 18th place. In addition, the UKU and RKU also achieved an increase compared to the previous year in the current ranking with 30 excellent departments.

"This improvement and the excellent ranking are exemplary for the enormous efforts and commitment of all employees," emphasises Prof. Dr Udo X. Kaisers, Chief Medical Director and Chairman of the Executive Board of Ulm University Hospital. "The renewed increase in the number of specialist departments is also particularly noteworthy - including the first-time recognition of the Diabetes, Stroke and Interventional Radiology departments," continued Prof. Kaisers.

"The excellent ranking once again, the increase compared to previous years and the newly included specialist areas confirm the high quality standards and first-class medical performance at Ulm University Hospital," emphasises Dr Oliver Mayer, Head of the Quality and Risk Management Unit at the UKU.

Together with the independent research institute Munich Inquire Media (MINQ), stern magazine used a multi-dimensional approach to identify the best hospitals from over 2,400 German hospitals. The decisive factor in the survey is primarily the reputation of the specialist departments. The "Clean Hands" campaign and participation in the voluntary Quality Medicine Initiative (IQM) were also positively included in the assessment.

The UKU and RKU were honoured in the following specialist areas:

• Clinic for General and Visceral Surgery (Prof Dr Nuh Rahbari)
• Colorectal cancer
• Department of Ophthalmology (Prof Dr Armin Wolf)
• Eye diseases
• Department of Dermatology and Allergology (Prof Dr Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek)
• Skin diseases
• Skin cancer
• Clinic for Gynaecology and Obstetrics (Prof. Dr Wolfgang Janni)
• Breast cancer
• High-risk births
• Pelvic tumours
• Gynaecological operations
• Clinic for Ear, Nose and Throat Medicine (Prof Dr Thomas Hoffmann)
• ENT
• Clinic for Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery (Prof Dr Andreas Liebold)
• Cardiac Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Clinic for Internal Medicine I (Prof Dr Thomas Seufferlein)
• Bowel cancer
• Diabetes
• Department of Internal Medicine II (Prof Dr Wolfgang Rottbauer)
• Interventional Cardiology
• Vascular surgery
• Rhythmology
• Clinic for Internal Medicine III (Prof Dr Hartmut Döhner)
• Leukaemia
• Department of Neurosurgery (Prof Dr Rainer Wirtz)
• Brain tumours
• Department of Neurology, RKU (Prof Dr Bernhard Landwehrmeyer)
• Parkinson's disease
• Alzheimer's disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Stroke
• Clinic for Radiology/Neuroradiology, RKU (Dr Kornelia Kreiser)
• Interventional Radiology
• Clinic for Orthopaedics, RKU (Prof. Dr Heiko Reichel)
• Endoprosthetics
• Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III (Prof Dr Manfred Spitzer)
• Depression
• Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy (Prof Dr Harald Gündel)
• Psychosomatics
• Clinic for Radiotherapy and Radiooncology (Prof. Dr Thomas Wiegel)
• Radiotherapy
• Clinic for Trauma, Hand, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (Prof Dr Florian Gebhard)
• Trauma Surgery
• Department of Urology and Paediatric Urology (Prof. Dr Christian Bolenz)
• Urology
• Prostate cancer

Around 50,000 patients are treated as inpatients at Ulm University Hospital every year. In addition, there are almost 300,000 outpatient quarterly cases. Around 6,000 employees provide cutting-edge university medicine at the hospital's sites. With 29 clinics and 16 institutes, the University Hospital offers patients the highest level of inpatient and outpatient medical care. Ulm University Hospital has over 1,200 beds and is the largest hospital between East Württemberg, the Swabian Alb, Lake Constance and the Allgäu region. Around 4,000 students are studying at Ulm University's Faculty of Medicine. Ulm University Hospital is one of four university hospitals in Baden-Württemberg.

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