Rhode Island Ranked 22nd in U.S. for Health Care
Wednesday, September 07, 2016
Rhode Island has been ranked 22nd in the country for health care, according to a recent study conducted by WalletHub.
"But higher costs don’t necessarily translate to better care and treatment here at home. The Kaiser Family Foundation found in its latest analysis of global health care quality that the U.S. remains outperformed by several of its peers “on a large number of measures,” despite improved performance in others. In particular, the U.S. lags in “life expectancy at birth; cost-related barriers to health care access; the prevalence of retained surgical items or unretrieved device fragments; and burden of disease, which takes into account years of life lost due to premature death and years of life lost to poor health or disability," said WalletHub.
Rhode Island ranks 43rd in health care costs, 37th in health care access and 8 in health outcomes.
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Rhode Island ranks 22nd behind New Hampshire and Arizona at 20 and 21, while ranking ahead of Missouri and Wisconsin at 23 and 24 respectively.
Minnesota ranks as the best state in the country for health care, while Alaska ranks as the worst state.
See the map below for the full rankings.
The Method
To Identifiy the states with the best health care, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia using three key dimensions, health care costs, health care access and health outcomes.
They then evaluated the categories using 29 metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the best health care.
WalletHub then calculated overall scores for each state using the weighted average across all metrics and built their rankings.
Health Care Access – Total Points: 33.33
- Public Hospital System Ranking: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
- Number of Hospital Beds per Capita: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
- Average Emergency-Room Wait Time: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
- Number of Physicians per Capita: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
- Number of Nurse Practitioners per Capita: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
- Number of Physician Assistants per Capita: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
- Number of Dentists per Capita: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
- Percentage of Medical Residents Retained: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
- Physician Medicare Acceptance Rates: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
- Physician Medicaid Acceptance Rates: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
- Adult Health-Insurance Coverage: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
Note: This metric measures the percentage of adults aged 18 to 64 with health insurance coverage.
- Youth Health-Insurance Coverage: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
Note: This metric measures the percentage of adults aged 18 to 64 with health insurance coverage.
- Telehealth: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
Note: This metric indicates the presence of telehealth in the state.
- Number of UCAOA-Certified* Urgent-Care Centers per Capita: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
Note: UCAOA stands for Urgent Care Association of America.
- Number of Retail Clinics per Capita: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
- Number of Patient Encounters per Capita in Federally Qualified Community Health Centers*: Full Weight (~2.08 Points)
Note: “Federally Qualified Health Centers,” or FQHCs, are defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as “all organizations receiving grants under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (PHS). FQHCs qualify for enhanced reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid, as well as other benefits.”
Health Outcomes – Total Points: 33.33
- Infant Mortality Rate: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
- Child Mortality Rate: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
- Maternal Mortality Rate: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
- Patient Hospital-Readmittance Rate: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
Note: This metric measures the percentage of patients readmitted within 30 days following discharge from a hospital.
- Life Expectancy at Birth: Double Weight (~6.67 Points)
- Cancer Rate: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
- Heart-Disease Rate: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
- Percentage of At-Risk Adults Without a Routine Doctor Visit in the Past Two Years: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
- Percentage of Adults Without a Dental Visit in the Past Year: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
Related Slideshow: The Power List - Health and Education, 2016
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