State health system performance improving

The Commonwealth Fund recently released the results of its Scorecard on State Health System Performance, which shows that states have improved. Scores are based on a list of 42 indictors divided into five categories: access and affordability, avoidable hospital use and cost, equity, healthy lives, and prevention and treatment. This year’s edition of the scorecard shows that more states improved than worsened on most of the indicators.

Highlights from the scorecard include:
•    The highest-performing states are found in the Northeast and Upper Midwest
•    States ranked in the bottom quarter, such as Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, were also the ones that improved on the greatest number of indicators.
•    The percentage of uninsured working-age adults declined in nearly every state.

Source: The Commonwealth Fund