The state of Hawaii ranks no.1 for healthcare quality as per America's health rankings report 2020. It tops the list because ranks high in several factors like access and affordability, wellness visits, dental visits, and insurance enrollment.
Each of these graded factors is compiled in a Scorecard and published annually. Hawaii ranks first in healthcare followed by Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, California, and Maryland.
In assessing what states have the best health care, access by both adults and children to preventive medical and dental treatment is a crucial consideration.
The states of America were ranked on healthcare using three broad standards.
- First is access to care which refers to the timely use of personal health services to achieve the best health results. Access to quality health care is very important in order to promote and maintain health, manage and prevent diseases, avoid disability and premature death and come up with no health disparities among all Americans.
- The second benchmark is quality of care which is care that should be safe, patient-centered, effective, efficient, timely, and equitable. Patient safety is an important aspect and a key priority of healthcare quality. It must be based on evidence-based professional knowledge and is crucial for achieving universal health coverage.
- The third standard is the overall health of the population which refers to health outcomes of a group of individuals that includes the distribution of such outcomes within the group. The health of the population provides observations into who is at risk for what, therefore increasing care provider’s understanding of different patient populations.
By using the three broad benchmarks, all aspects of the state’s health care must be taken into consideration.
This involves indicators like the number of adults without health insurance and the percentage of those who haven't had a routine checkup in the preceding year, as well as those who avoided medical attention because they couldn't afford it.
Positive indicators include the percentage of children who receive Medicaid medical and dental care.
Also added are data on avoidable hospitalizations, readmissions within 30 days of discharge, nursing home quality ratings, and the number of seniors enrolled in high-quality Medicare Advantage plans.
Lastly, it includes general measures associated with good physical and mental health, such as smoking, obesity, and suicide rates, as well as self-reported mental health. It also considers infant and overall mortality rates.
Hawaii is the top-performing state in the whole USA as per a US news website as well. It ranked high in all these parameters in 2019 as well. It can be attributed due to the state’s Prepaid Health Care Act which was adopted in 1974.
Hawaii was the first to require minimum standards of healthcare benefits, it’s coverage is a low uninsured rate.
After the enactment of the Prepaid Health Care Act, the state has among the lowest premiums.
Finally, it does not have a highly concentrated hospital market, resulting in less leverage with insurers.
Hawaii proved to be the best state in providing continuous and comprehensive healthcare for its population.
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