Vermont’s Legend Grows; Tops Commonwealth Fund Healthcare List

In my DailyDose email blast from Modern Healthcare Magazine, I noted that Vermont ranked number 1 among all states on the Commonwealth Fund Healthcare List (2009 scorecard).  Vermont ranked 2nd in 2007 when Hawaii took 1st place. Rounding out the top rankings in 2009 were Hawaii and Iowa, tied for 2nd place, Minnesota in 3rd place, and Maine and New Hampshire tied for 5th place.

The Commonwealth Fund Healthcare List identifies those states with the best healthcare quality, access, efficiency and population health.  The report ranks states on 35 performance indicators. To view the article on Modern Healthcare ’s website, go to http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091008/REG/31008995.

To read the Commonwealth Fund Healthcare Report, go to http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/Publications/Fund-Reports/2009/Oct/2009-.  Here’s a statement from the executive summary of the report:

“With a central focus on identifying opportunities to improve, the State Scorecard provides a framework for state and federal action to address common concerns as well as specific areas of need. It assesses states’ performance relative to what is achievable, based on benchmarks for 38 indicators of access, quality, costs, and health outcomes. The findings highlight continued wide variability in performance across states. But they also show that all states face challenges posed by rising costs of care and poor care coordination. Although the scorecard does not yet reflect the impact of the economic downturn—given the two- to three-year time lag in data reporting—the deterioration seen in access to care across the country underscores the need for coherent reforms that would change the trajectory of costs, ensure access, and enhance value.

Overall, the 2009 State Scorecard paints a picture of health care systems under stress. Still, improvements made in certain indicators and in certain areas of the U.S. indicate that individual states have the capacity to do much better, especially when their efforts are supported by strong federal policy and national initiatives. In 2009, Vermont, Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Maine, and New Hampshire lead the nation as the top-ranked states (Hawaii and Iowa tied for second place; Maine and New Hampshire tied for fifth). Their performance ranks in the top quartile of states on a majority of scorecard indicators. In particular, the reforms passed by Vermont in 2006 to cover focused on preventing and controlling chronic disease are providing a new model for other states.” (Source: The Commonwealth Fund, 2009)

This report is well worth the read. Visit the report and see how your state performed. My current home state of North Carolina ranked 41st on the 2009 report card. It ranked 30th in 2007. It looks like we’ve got a long way to go.

Post by Dan Dunlop, The Healthcare Marketer