Wisconsin ranks 10th in nation for health care system performance as judged by The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System

When it comes to health care, Wisconsin is one of the best places to live in the nation, according to a new report released today.
Wisconsin ranks 10th in nation for health care system performance as judged by The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System

When it comes to health care, Wisconsin is one of the best places to live in the nation, according to a new report released today.

The report by The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System shows that Wisconsin ranks 10th among all states and the District of Columbia in health system performance. That is a notch above the state’s ranking in 2007, the group’s first state scorecard.

But if the state improved its performance to the best level of states — Vermont topped the chart — it would save nearly million on hospital readmissions of Medicare patients, and there would be 163,650 more adults with health insurance.

The Commonwealth Fund is a private research foundation advocating for an improved national health care system. In addition to the state assessment, it also publishes a national scorecard. The 2008 report gave the nation a failing grade.

The 2009 state scorecard was based on the performance of state health systems on 38 indicators covering five categories: access; prevention and treatment; avoidable hospital use and costs; equity; and healthy lives.

The results show wide disparity among states and little movement in narrowing the gaps that existed in 2007, particularly in access and quality of care.

“Where you live matters in terms of access, the quality of care you receive … and it shouldn’t,” said Cathy Schoen, a Commonwealth Fund senior vice president and co-author of the report, titled, “Aiming Higher: Results from the 2009 State Scorecard on Health System Performance.”

On the 38 health performance indicators ranked by state, Wisconsin scored among the top five on five criteria, the top quarter on 15, the second quarter on 17, the third quartile on four and the bottom on two.

Wisconsin’s highest rankings came in healthy lives, which includes deaths per 100,000 population. In that category, the state rose to eighth place from 21st in 2007. In access, which includes the number of insured, Wisconsin was ninth-best compared to 13th two years ago.
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The state dropped to 13th place from ninth in the prevention and treatment category, and to 16th from 14th in avoidable hospital use and costs.

Joel Cantor, director of the Center for State Health Policy and a public policy professor at Rutgers University, said Wisconsin’s drop for the most part was largely the result of other states improving in certain areas, not necessarily because Wisconsin’s performance declined.

For example, Wisconsin actually showed improvement in the percentage of heart failure patients given written instructions at discharge, 76 percent in 2009 compared with 61 percent in 2007, but its rank in that category dropped to 23rd from ninth.

“That’s an area where there’s been improvement nationwide,” Cantor said, “and Wisconsin just did not improve as much.”

The scorecard comes as Congress is engaged in an intense debate over legislation intended to provide health care coverage to most if not all of an estimated 47 million uninsured Americans and slow the rise in costs.

While access to health care for children has improved greatly, the researchers found, it has declined for adults. The researchers attribute the increase in coverage for children to the State Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan, a federal initiative.
Commonwealth Fund officials say the results underscore an urgent need for federal action on health care reform.

“The differences we see among the states translate to real lives and dollars,” said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis. “If we can enact health care reforms that give all states the opportunity to do as well as the best states, we will save lives, improve quality and cut costs.”

The state dropped to 13th place from ninth in the prevention and treatment category, and to 16th from 14th in avoidable hospital use and costs.

Joel Cantor, director of the Center for State Health Policy and a public policy professor at Rutgers University, said Wisconsin’s drop for the most part was largely the result of other states improving in certain areas, not necessarily because Wisconsin’s performance declined.

For example, Wisconsin actually showed improvement in the percentage of heart failure patients given written instructions at discharge, 76 percent in 2009 compared with 61 percent in 2007, but its rank in that category dropped to 23rd from ninth.

“That’s an area where there’s been improvement nationwide,” Cantor said, “and Wisconsin just did not improve as much.”

The scorecard comes as Congress is engaged in an intense debate over legislation intended to provide health care coverage to most if not all of an estimated 47 million uninsured Americans and slow the rise in costs.

While access to health care for children has improved greatly, the researchers found, it has declined for adults. The researchers attribute the increase in coverage for children to the State Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan, a federal initiative.
Commonwealth Fund officials say the results underscore an urgent need for federal action on health care reform.

“The differences we see among the states translate to real lives and dollars,” said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis. “If we can enact health care reforms that give all states the opportunity to do as well as the best states, we will save lives, improve quality and cut costs.”

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