The Commonwealth Fund just released its state scorecard on health system performance. We posted it on our site under the “Health Systems” section in our library at http://www.collaborationhealthcare.com/ or you can grab it by clicking here.
The study looked at a number of indicators to determine its rankings of the states. In 2009, Vermont, Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, and Maine/New Hampshire came out on the top and Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Mississippi came out on the bottom.
The main message once again pointed to the significant variation between the states that continues to exist in access to care, quality, costs, and outcomes for individuals. Even those states at the top of the list had some room for improvement.
Perhaps most striking is the amount of dollars that could be saved in the system we have today simply by organizing care more effectively and dealing the costs associated with the unhealthy lifestyles of our population:
$5 billion for unnecessary re-admission to hospitals or nursing homes
$37 billion “outlier” Medicare costs
$193 billion for tobacco-related health care costs
$147 billion for obesity
So as we continue to move through the health care reform debate, we’ll continue to argue that the issue is not whether we have a public option, or co-ops, or whatever else we want to throw in there. The issue is not making the health plans, the doctors, or the hospitals the “bad guys”. The issue is how this system is organized and how care is delivered and paid-for in the system we have today. Until we deal with the fundamentals, the rest is simply irrelevant.
The Commonwealth Study only reinforced what we already know. I just hope we do something about it.
The study looked at a number of indicators to determine its rankings of the states. In 2009, Vermont, Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, and Maine/New Hampshire came out on the top and Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Mississippi came out on the bottom.
The main message once again pointed to the significant variation between the states that continues to exist in access to care, quality, costs, and outcomes for individuals. Even those states at the top of the list had some room for improvement.
Perhaps most striking is the amount of dollars that could be saved in the system we have today simply by organizing care more effectively and dealing the costs associated with the unhealthy lifestyles of our population:
$5 billion for unnecessary re-admission to hospitals or nursing homes
$37 billion “outlier” Medicare costs
$193 billion for tobacco-related health care costs
$147 billion for obesity
So as we continue to move through the health care reform debate, we’ll continue to argue that the issue is not whether we have a public option, or co-ops, or whatever else we want to throw in there. The issue is not making the health plans, the doctors, or the hospitals the “bad guys”. The issue is how this system is organized and how care is delivered and paid-for in the system we have today. Until we deal with the fundamentals, the rest is simply irrelevant.
The Commonwealth Study only reinforced what we already know. I just hope we do something about it.
A person becomes obese over the years because of excessive eating. But if one will have the courage to shed those fats then it will also take some years. Persistence is necessary to gain back the healthy body to avoid unwanted complications.
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