Metro Atlanta boosters like to point out that the region is home to some of the nation's highest-tech hospitals with some of the world's top-notch doctors.

So it may come as a surprise that no Atlanta facility ranked on the list of the nation's top 10 hospitals released Friday by U.S. News & World Report.

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The usual respected names – Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, Duke – top the list, which appears in the magazine's issue on newsstands Monday. No Georgia hospitals appear in the magazine's top 19 "honor roll."

However, three metro Atlanta hospitals ranked high in subcategories like cancer care and women's services. For example, Emory University Hospital in DeKalb County is ranked No. 8 in ophthalmology. The Shepherd Center in Buckhead ranked No. 9 in rehabilitation. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta ranked 10th for pediatric heart and heart surgery.

Among metro Atlanta hospitals, Emory had the strongest showing. It ranked in the top 50 for geriatrics (11th); psychiatry (11th); heart and heart surgery (13th); neurology and neurosurgery (13th); ear, nose and throat (19th); kidney disease (20th); and cancer care (47th).

"The dedication and commitment to excellence by thousands of physicians, nurses, researchers, medical staff and employees across the entire Emory Healthcare system is certainly validated by this report today," Emory Healthcare president and CEO John T. Fox said in a prepared statement.

Rankings are due largely to reputation among physicians and specialists. U.S. News editors say it's a tough task to make the list.

"Talent and money alone don't put hospitals in the rankings," U.S. News Editor Avery Comarow said. "The truly best hospitals are never satisfied.... [They are] always doing better – squeezing another few percentage points out of the infection rate, [and] improving the quality of life of elderly patients besides helping more of them survive."

Kevin Bloye, a spokesman for the Georgia Hospital Association, said one should not rely solely on the U.S. News list when gauging patient care in metro Atlanta.

"This is just one of several reports on a yearly basis from different organizations," said Bloye, whose group represents 173 hospitals. "Some studies, you'll see Georgia hospitals near the top, some other studies not. We advise consumers to look at all of them. I wouldn't trust just one source to make a decision."

U.S. News & World Report has compiled the comprehensive list for 19 years. This year's list includes 170 hospitals and medical centers and 16 specialties.