Healthcare Insights

Top 20 hospitals by breast cancer diagnoses

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the U.S., with the National Cancer Institute estimating the diagnosis of 290,560 new cases throughout 2022. Cancer’s many forms and potential sites of infection can make it hard to isolate data concerning a specific variation of the disease. However, using Definitive Healthcare’s Claim Analytics product, we are able to track which hospitals had the most patient visits for breast cancer.

Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we analyzed hospitals by patient visits for breast cancer in 2021. This list shows the top hospitals with the highest percentage of total patient encounters for breast cancer.

Hospitals with the most breast cancer patient encounters

Explore dataset

Rank	Hospital	City	State	% primary diagnoses	Explore dataset
1	Cleveland Clinic Main Campus	Cleveland	OH	3.00%	Explore
2	Moffitt Cancer Center	Tampa	FL	2.80%	Explore
3	City of Hope Helford Clinical Research Hospital	Duarte	CA	2.50%	Explore
4	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	New York	NY	2.20%	Explore
5	Mount Sinai Medical Center	New York	NY	1.90%	Explore
6	University Hospital	Ann Arbor	MI	1.60%	Explore
7	William P Clements Jr University Hospital	Dallas	TX	1.40%	Explore
8	Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center	Miami	FL	1.00%	Explore
9	Baptist Hospital	Miami	FL	0.90%	Explore
10	Seattle Cancer Care Alliance	Seattle	WA	0.80%	Explore
11	Wilmington Hospital	Wilmington	DE	0.80%	Explore
12	Stanford Hospital	Stanford	CA	0.70%	Explore
13	Cleveland Clinic Florida	Weston	FL	0.60%	Explore
14	Hartford Hospital	Hartford	CT	0.60%	Explore
15	Spartanburg Medical Center	Spartanburg	SC	0.60%	Explore
16	Piedmont Columbus Regional - Midtown	Columbus	GA	0.50%	Explore
17	Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center	Livingston	NJ	0.50%	Explore
18	Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	PA	0.50%	Explore
19	Evanston Hospital	Evanston	IL	0.50%	Explore
20	IU Health Methodist Hospital	Indianapolis	IN	0.50%	Explore

Fig. 1 Data is from Definitive Healthcare’s Claims Analytics product. Data is accurate as of September 2022.

Which hospital has the most breast cancer patient encounters?

Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, had the most visits for breast cancer in 2021, accounting for 3% of all breast cancer patient encounters. In second place is Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Moffitt saw 2.8% of all patient encounters for breast cancer in 2021. In the third spot is City of Hope Helford Clinical Research Hospital in Duarte, California, accounting for 2.5%.

The list of top 20 hospitals for breast cancer patient encounters shows representation from across the entire country. The only two states with multiple entries are Florida with four and New York with two.

How is breast cancer diagnosed?

Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer, accounting for roughly 30% of all diagnoses in women. But how exactly is it diagnosed?

The first step involves getting an x-ray of the breast in a procedure known as a mammogram. Most providers recommend that women start getting mammogram screenings at around age 40.

Most mammograms fall under one of two types: screening and diagnostic. Screening mammograms are preventative exams that are usually scheduled annually for women with no signs of cancer. Diagnostic mammograms involve a more thorough examination for individuals who demonstrate potential cancer symptoms. Both variations of the procedure often use a 3-D imaging system known as tomosynthesis in order to improve accuracy and decrease the level of false positives.

If breast cancer is detected, then doctors will perform a process known as staging to see if the cancer cells have spread throughout the breast or to other parts of the body. The level of spread outside the breast determines the stage that the cancer is currently in and the best path of treatment going forward.

Learn more

Healthcare Insights are developed with healthcare commercial intelligence from the Definitive Healthcare platform. Want even more insights? Start a free trial now and get access to the latest healthcare commercial intelligence on hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers.