Ann & Natalie’s Compliance Corner
Welcome back to Ann & Natalie’s Compliance Corner! This month, we report on two recent surveys that highlight surprising differences in health care quality among states. Missed last month’s overview of the Health Information Technology Act of 2007? Click here.
On June 11, 2007, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) published a state-specific follow-up to its National Healthcare Quality Report released in 2006. This survey, titled State Snapshots, suggests wide disparities in the quality of healthcare services from one state to another.
To compile data for State Snapshots, the AHRQ evaluated all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. They measured variations across 129 key dimensions of health system quality in three primary areas:
- Types of care, including preventative, acute, or chronic care
- Settings of care, such as nursing homes and hospitals
- Care by clinical area, such as care for patients with cancer or respiratory diseases
“The State Snapshots, produced annually...provide State-specific health care quality information including strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement,” said the AHRQ in a press release. “The goal is to help State officials and their public- and private-sector partners better understand health care quality and disparities in their State.”
On June 13, two days after the State Snapshots were released, the Commonwealth Fund published a similar state-specific survey, titled the State Scorecard. The State Scorecard supported the AHRQ’s depiction of the health care quality chasm between states and geographical regions.
“Currently, where you live in the United States matters for quality and care experiences. The widely varying performance across states and sharp differences between the top and bottom state rates on the 32 indicators included in the State Scorecard highlight broad opportunities to improve,” said the Commonwealth Fund the survey’s Executive Summary. “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.”
State Scorecard Best- and Worst-Performers
Highest performing states (routinely outperforming lower-ranked states in the provision of health care services):
Hawaii, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, and North Dakota
States that need improvement (“lagging well behind their peers” in one or more of the survey’s measured areas):
California, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nevada, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma
The survey also identified a potential link between quality of care and higher insurance rates and access to health care services. However, the Commonwealth Foundation stressed that better quality does not necessarily mean higher consumer costs.
“If all states could approach the low levels of mortality from conditions amenable to care achieved by the top state, nearly 90,000 fewer deaths before the age of 75 would occur annually,” said the Commonwealth Fund in a press release. To further illustrate the need to improve consistency, it observed that “if insurance rates nationwide reached that of the top states, the uninsured population would be halved.”
The Commonwealth Fund noted however, that even the top performing states and regions are achieving less than possible, and concluded that all states could improve measurably.
To see the Commonwealth Fund’s overview, and to see your state on an interactive map, click here.
To read the State Snapshots, and to see how your state ranks on quality measures, click here.
Disclaimer: The content of Compliance Corner is for general informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as compliance guidance or advice. Consult your compliance advisor or attorney for compliance or legal advice on specific issues related to your practice or compliance program.
