Kansas University Hospital’s patient satisfaction scores have earned the hospital high rankings from U.S. News & World Report.

The hospital’s best ranking came in the category of being judged as the best in nursing care. Among the patients surveyed, 80 percent reported having nurses who were “always” polite and communicative.

That placed the hospital in a third-place tie in that category with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

KU Hospital tied for seventh on the magazine’s “Best for Pain Management” list and was 13th on the “Overall Patient Satisfaction” list.

Tammy Peterman, chief operating officer of KU Hospital, said that for the past 10 years, the focus of the organization has been on service and quality.

“We’ve maintained that focus,” she said, referencing patient satisfaction scores that at one time were in the fifth percentile, and have risen to being consistenly around the 90th percentile.

The hospital reported scores in the 40th percentile as recently as July 2006, but scores have been at or above the 90th percentile since November 2008.

“It’s been a journey for us, and we’re going to continue that journey,” she said. “I think it (the ranking) just validates what we know and see every day in our hospital.”

This year marked the first that the magazine provided the patient satisfaction rankings among its list of “America’s Best Hospitals.”

The magazine looked at patient satisfaction scores among 154 hospitals that made its other list, which measures overall quality.