Idaho Health Rankings
Idaho is a vibrant, growing, state with lots to offer its’ residents. I’ve been fortunate to live here for much of my life and greatly enjoy the people, along with its many outdoor activities. Thus, I’m always interested in getting a “pulse” on the state – especially when it pertains to health.
One such source is the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program, which is a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. This program assesses multiple data sources to evaluate health factors (i.e., health behaviors, clinical care, social & economic factors, & physical environment) and health outcomes (i.e., length of life & quality of life) to provide a county health ranking per state. Thus, I will highlight a few of the findings from the 2017 County Health Rankings: Idaho report to see how Idaho compares to the US median on several measures.
Of course, we should start with the premise that the health of US citizens is substantially lower than many other industrialized nations. But, to my knowledge, a comparison of Idaho to other countries does not exist, so instead comparisons will be made to the US median.
Below are a few of the findings from the report:
Good
- The number of preventable hospital stays for ambulatory-care sensitive conditions per 1000 Medicare enrollees is 32 (vs 56)
- The percentage of children under the age of 18 in poverty is 18% (vs 22%)
- The percentage of adults that report a BMI > 30 is 28% (vs 31%)
- The percentage of the population with adequate access to locations for physical activity is 75% (vs 62%)
Bad
- The percentage of newly diagnosed chlamydia cases per 100,000 population is 337.6 (vs 294.8)
- The percentage of the population under age 65 without health insurance is 16% (vs 14%)
- The number of reported violent crime offenses per 100,000 population is 212 (vs 198)
- The percentage of households with overcrowding, high housing costs, or lack of kitchen or plumbing facilities is 16% (vs 14%)
Overall, Idaho is doing better than the US median on the majority of measures, but we can always do better.
Fostering Leadership Episode 5 – Extreme Leadership
Shifting Focus of Health Care Delivery in the United States
Health care delivery in the United States is currently undergoing substantial changes to address issues of cost, quality, and access. I developed the first version of this slide in 2012 and have been updating it as new trends are identified. I’m curious to see how many of the “Future State” items will become “Current State” over the next 5 years.
So Many Verbs, So Little Change (So Far)
For anyone that follows the trajectory of proposed health care changes in the United States, you’ve probably noticed that authors and speakers have a tendency to use a variety of verbs to convey the urgency of realizing it. Some of the verbs I’ve seen attached to health care include “transform, “disrupt,” and “reinvent.”
Now I understand – and agree with – many of the calls to bring about change in the U.S. health care system. But, I can’t help wondering if too much time is spent attempting to identify new verbs to explain it at the expense of digging in and making it happen.
Those of us with a strong interest in seeing change come to fruition have been afforded an amazing opportunity to undertake this noble challenge of addressing this fundamental issue: fixing health care over the next twenty years.
We did not arrive at this place overnight, nor will we solve the numerous challenges without thoughtful effort. But, if committed people are unwilling to step up and lead, then we will remain in this morass that is slowly drowning us all.
So, let us focus less on identifying verbs to explain the change and work toward bringing it about with all expediency.
Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2018
The ECRI Institute has published their annual Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2018. As noted in the brief, the list is published each year to identify:
“…the potential sources of danger that we believe warrant the greatest attention for the coming year. The list does not enumerate the most frequently reported problems or the ones associated with the most severe consequences—although we do consider such information in our analysis. Rather, the list reflects our judgment about which risks should receive priority now.” (p. 2)
The list includes:
- Ransomware and Other Cybersecurity Threats to Healthcare Delivery Can Endanger Patients
- Endoscope Reprocessing Failures Continue to Expose Patients to Infection Risk
- Mattresses and Covers May Be Infected by Body Fluids and Microbiological Contaminants
- Missed Alarms May Result from Inappropriately Configured Secondary Notification Devices and Systems
- Improper Cleaning May Cause Device Malfunctions, Equipment Failures, and Potential for Patient Injury
- Unholstered Electrosurgical Active Electrodes Can Lead to Patient Burns
- Inadequate Use of Digital Imaging Tools May Lead to Unnecessary Radiation Exposure
- Workarounds Can Negate the Safety Advantages of Bar-Coded Medication Administration Systems
- Flaws in Medical Device Networking Can Lead to Delayed or Inappropriate Care
- Slow Adoption of Safer Enteral Feeding Connectors Leaves Patients at Risk
If you’re interested in getting your own copy of the Executive Brief, visit this link.