The demands on health care systems around the world are growing. To deliver the best care to patients, hospitals must go beyond traditional means of delivery to be on the cutting edge of innovation and development.
Around the world, smart hospitals are adopting artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) tools and robotics to streamline operations, improve patient outcomes and tackle the toughest health challenges facing their communities.
Newsweek published the fifth iteration of World’s Best Smart Hospitals for 2026, featuring 350 of the world’s leading facilities from 30 countries. Each of these hospitals has demonstrated excellence in digital innovation and emerging health technology.
The ranking is determined by three primary factors: recommendations from medical professionals and hospital managers, a voluntary survey assessing hospitals’ digital tools and accreditations from the Joint Commission International (JCI) or The Joint Commission (TJC).
This year, the list ranks all the hospitals from 1 to 350. Last year’s list ranked hospitals 1 to 100, with the remaining 101 to 350 listed in alphabetical order. According to Statista, the update reflects the growing availability of data points on the 2026 ranking.
The United States has the most hospitals on the ranking with 103, followed by Germany with 24, the United Kingdom with 22, France with 20, Italy with 18, South Korea with 17, Spain with 16, Canada and Taiwan with 14, Switzerland with 12 and Japan and Singapore with 10 each.
Newsweek analysis of three years of data shows that the distribution of hospitals among countries shifted this year, showing more representation from Asian hospitals – up from 61 to 77 overall since the 2025 list. This includes more hospitals from countries in the Middle East, like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Lebanon.
There are 29 new hospitals in the ranking from last year. This includes five hospitals from Taiwan and three hospitals from the U.S. Colombia was included on the ranking for the first time, with one hospital, Hospital Alma Máter de Antioquia, at No. 336.
Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH) debuted on this year’s ranking at the No. 324 spot. As one of Florida’s largest public health systems, SMH has a mission to provide quality and caring service and innovation to patients across the region.
“I think what makes us unique is we are a very high-level, high-quality, growing quaternary [and] tertiary care healthcare system in the region, but we try to maintain the feel and accessibility of a community hospital,” SMH Chief Operating Officer Jeff Limbocker told Newsweek. “This community has grown really fast over the last decade and we want to continue to grow with the community. Consistent, quality care, patient safety is probably our North Star and that ends up helping to attract the best team and the best medical staff in the area.”
He said SMH is considered a pioneer in robotics technology, with its program launching nearly two decades ago in 2006. It recently expanded its orthopedic surgery capabilities with 10 hand-held wireless robots to assist with knee surgeries. A new mixed reality technology was also recently adopted to help surgeons customize hip implant placement, improve accuracy during surgery and mitigate complications.
“The definition of [a smart hospital] is moving fast, like most industries, when it comes to artificial intelligence,” he said. “For us, it means working with our team and working with partners, largely in the vendor community and in the technology space, on how their specific solutions for new AI, robotics process, automation – which we’ve done for a long time and continue to evolve.”
In addition to some changes in the presentation of the ranking data in the 2026 list, the methodology was also updated. The weighting for the Statista Smart Hospitals Maturity Survey (SSHMS), which assesses the implementation and usage of smart technologies in hospitals, increased from 15 to 20 percent of the total score. This was done to “reflect the emphasis on data submitted to Statista on the implementation and usage of smart hospital technologies,” Statista told Newsweek.
Statista’s global board of medical experts designed a questionnaire for eligible hospitals with results validated by an authorized person from the hospital, like a managing director of chief information officer. The goal of this survey, according to Statista, is to highlight the hospitals that are systematically implementing innovative technologies to improve care outcomes.
Participation in the survey is voluntary, and hospitals received 1, 2 or 3 ribbons based on their performance.
Topics on the questionnaire include:
- Accreditation: The accreditations and certifications obtained related to information technology
- Artificial Intelligence: The usage of AI and machine learning tools for data analysis and evaluation, including generative AI, AI-enhanced surgical planning and assistance and diagnostic imaging interpretation
- Electronic Functionalities: Available options for patients via the patient portal, including messaging tools, access to tests and images, booking appointments and Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs)
- Employee Satisfaction Surveys: The contentment and overall well-being experienced by employees as they relate to productivity, job performance and patient outcomes
- Hospital Information System: The implementation status of laboratory information systems
- Patient Safety Technologies: The implementation of a decision support tool to identify potential risks
- Patient Satisfaction Surveys: The level of contentment and overall experience reported by patients receiving care
- Robotics: The implementation and evaluation of robotic systems or automated machines in patient care and administrative functions
- Telemedicine: The implementation of technical equipment to conduct teleconsultations, communicate with patients and collaborate with medical professionals
- Virtualization: The usage of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality for immersive medical training, patient education, surgical planning, personalized rehabilitation programs, enhancing imaging and surgical navigation
Some of the hospitals on the list also have standout categories denoting the specific areas of digital innovation that were highlighted in the online survey and the SSHMS. These categories serve to recognize hospitals that demonstrate particular strengths in these fields, Statista told Newsweek.
They include artificial intelligence, electronic functionalities, patient safety technologies, robotics, telemedicine and virtualization. Patient safety technologies was a new addition to the standouts on the SSHMS for the 2026 ranking.
“Patient safety technologies are an important dimension of smart hospitals, as they help reduce medical errors, improve treatment outcomes, and enhance overall quality of care,” Statista told Newsweek. “For example, decision support tools that identify potential risks support clinicians in making safer, evidence-based decisions.”
These standout categories do not directly factor into the overall score of the hospital, but instead “serve as an additional distinction to further highlight innovative achievements and digital leadership,” according to Statista. Ribbons are determined solely by the SSHMS results, independent of the standout recognitions.
Peer recommendation from the online survey contributed most to the hospital ranking, accounting for more than three-quarters (77.5 percent) of the total score. After the 20 percent from the SSHMS, accreditation from the JCI made up the final 2.5 percent of the score.
The accreditation standards include aspects like information technology, data-driven decision-making, and general continuous improvement. According to Statista, the accreditation is inherently related to smart hospitals because it “supports the implementation of advanced technologies and practices that enhance the overall quality of healthcare delivery.”
One of the biggest challenges facing Sarasota Memorial Hospital is accommodating the growing community with maintaining its reputation for high-quality care. But Limbocker said this demand has pushed the hospital system to innovate better and faster.
Looking ahead, SMH is expanding with a third full-service hospital in North Port, which will break ground in November and is expected to open in the fall of 2028.
The hospital system also made a $160 million investment in a new electronic health records system through the platform Epic.
He said the “backbone” of SMH’s smart hospital title is “having a bunch of smart people.”
“We all talk about AI and robotic process automation and things like that, but ultimately, we have a lot of smart people here, a lot of dedicated people on our medical staff,” Limbocker said. “It’s about our people that make us smart. The rest is our ability to get there fast.”
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