Go travelling stud 100 pharmacy Hospitals next had to show that they treated enough patients to be eligible for specialty ranking. The required volume varied by specialty. The threshold was a certain number of Medicare inpatients discharged from 2009 to 2011 who had had certain specialty-related procedures and conditions, each at a specifically defined level of severity and complexity. The threshold for gastroenterology & GI surgery, for example, was 561 patients, 151 of whom had to be surgical cases. For pulmonology the total was 968 with no required surgical minimum. A hospital that fell short still could make it through the gate if nominated by at least 1 percent of the physicians in a specialty who responded to the 2011, 2012 and 2013 reputational surveys. That left a total of 1,894 hospitals eligible in at least one specialty.