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Authors:
Joel C. Cantor, Sc.D., Dina Belloff, M.A, Cathy Schoen, M.S., Sabrina K. H. How, M.P.A., and Douglas McCarthy, M.B.A.
Contact:
cs@cmwf.org
Overview
Visit our interactive U.S. Map to view state-specific rankings and results compared to benchmarks, and to view the number of lives and dollars each state could save by achieving benchmark levels of performance.
Developed to follow the National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, published in 2006, the State Scorecard assesses state variation across key dimensions of health system performance: access, quality, avoidable hospital use and costs, equity, and healthy lives. The findings document wide variation among states and the potential for substantial improvement—in terms of access, quality, costs, and lives—if all states approached levels achieved by the top states. Leading states outperform lagging states on multiple indicators and dimensions; yet, all states have room to improve. The report presents state performance on 32 indicators, with overall rankings as well as ranks on each dimension. The findings underscore the need for federal and state action in key areas to move all states to higher levels of performance and value.
Support for this research was provided by The Commonwealth Fund. The views presented here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Commonwealth Fund or its directors, officers, or staff, or of The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System or its members.
Executive Summary
The rich geographical diversity of the United States is part of its appeal. The diverse performance of the health care system across the U.S., however, is not. People in the United States, regardless of where they live, deserve the best of American health care. The State Scorecard is intended to assist states in identifying opportunities to better meet their residents current and future health needs and enable them to live long and healthy lives. With rising health costs squeezing the budgets of businesses, families, and public programs, there is a pressing need to improve performance and reap greater value from the health system.
The State Scorecard offers a framework through which policymakers and other stakeholders can gauge efforts to ensure affordable access to highquality, efficient, and equitable care. With a goal of focusing on opportunities to improve, the analysis assesses performance relative to what is achievable, based on benchmarks drawn from the range of state health system performance.
note
Currently, where you live in the United States matters for quality and care experiences. The widely varying performance across states and sharp differences between top and bottom state rates on the 32 indicators included in the State Scorecard highlight broad opportunities to improve. If all states approached levels achieved by the top states, the cumulative result would be substantial improvement in terms of access to care, health care quality, reduced costs, and healthier lives.
The analysis of the range of state performance points to five cross-cutting findings:
* There is wide variation among states. This means that the potential exists for the country to do much better.
* Leading states consistently outperform lagging states. The patterns indicate that federal and state policies and local and regional health systems make a difference.
* Across states, better access is closely associated with better quality.
* There are significant opportunities to reduce costs as well as improve access to and quality of care. Higher quality is not associated with higher costs across states.
* All states have substantial room to improve.
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publicatio...m?doc_id=494551
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