Children are still developing and their bodies function differently than adults. Therefore they have special needs for diagnosing and treating injuries and illness. Their small size, especially infants, also make diagnostic testing or treatment more difficult. Some adult hospitals just don’t have equipment small enough to accurately capture an image or to treat a small child.

A children’s hospital will be equipped with technology perfectly sized for your child and will be staffed with specially trained and experienced professionals in caring for the physical as well as emotional needs of children.

That’s not to say that your child must only go to a children’s hospital. Talk to your child’s physician and discuss your child’s specific needs. In the case of an emergency, the closest emergency room is always the best choice. Emergency professionals have the ability to stabilize and transfer to a children’s hospital when appropriate.

How do you choose the best children's hospital?
As with most specialty hospitals, your physician will likely recommend one or two children’s hospitals if one is required. However, these recommendations are often based simply on proximity and your physician having privileges there. We want you to know you still have a choice. We suggest you do research before you accept his or her recommendation. Below are some additional factors you should consider:

1. Quality: Quality is often overlooked but extremely important. Below is a brief overview of quality data available on our website.

The nation’s largest purchaser of health care is the federal government. The agency in charge of buying health care, called CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), monitors the quality of health care it purchases by requiring children's hospitals to report information on the 3 measures listed below.

1. Children who received reliever medication while hospitalized for asthma
2. Children who received systemic corticosteroid medication (oral and IV medication that reduces inflammation and controls symptoms) while hospitalized for asthma
3. Children and their caregivers who received a home management plan of care document while hospitalized

Compare quality scores
WhereToFindCare.com gives you two quality scores to assist you in choosing a children's hospital: the government quality score and the consumer quality score.

WhereToFindCare.com simplifies data from CMS into one score called the government quality score. This score is displayed in your search results and on each children's hospital’s profile page. Each children's hospital’s government quality score is the percentage of measures that met or exceeded the national average. Sometimes, however, CMS feels a children's hospital did not have enough patients to make a judgment on its quality. In these cases, government quality scores are not displayed. When available, detailed quality information is available on the quality tab of each children's hospital’s profile page.

The consumer quality score is the percentage of people who rated their children's hospital on WhereToFindCare.com and said they received quality care. This experience-based children's hospital satisfaction score cannot be found elsewhere today except by word of mouth.

Have you had experiences with children's hospitals in your area? Share your experiences with other users by rating the children's hospital on WhereToFindCare.com. Your feedback is invaluable to others in your community searching for children's hospitals.

2. Recommendations: Word of mouth recommendations can tell us whether we can get along with providers on a personal level. Ask friends, family, and other associates if they have had experiences with the children's hospitals on your list. You can also find word of mouth recommendations on WhereToFindCare.com.

How can WhereToFindCare.com help you find the best children's hospital?
Use the children's hospital search tool above to locate children's hospitals in your area. With the report generated, you can view quality information, word of mouth recommendations from people in your community, exceptional healthcare workers at children's hospitals(we call them CareStars), photos, video tours, services provided, insurance accepted, contact information, driving directions, and much more.