BALTIMORE — Johns Hopkins Hospital has regained its place atop U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings of the nation's best hospitals, one year after its 21-year stint at the top of the rakings was broken.

Last year, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston won the top spot. Massachusetts General was ranked second in the 2013 rankings, which were released Tuesday.

Eighteen hospitals made the magazine's Honor Roll of the best hospitals in the country. To make the list, hospitals had to achieve a high ranking in at least six of 16 medical specialties.

Johns Hopkins was ranked No. 1 in ear, nose and throat; geriatrics; neurology and neurosurgery; rheumatology; and urology. It also received top-six rankings in 10 other specialties, including cancer, cardiology and psychiatry.

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., was ranked third, followed by the Cleveland Clinic and UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Johns Hopkins said in a statement that it was proud of the achievement, particularly given "the competitive, rapidly changing health care environment" and that U.S. News evaluated more than 4,800 hospitals.