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Iowa Ranks #2 in Overall Performance in Health System Scorecard
Date: December 14, 2009
PELLA, Iowa—Iowa is one of 13 states to again rise to the top quartile of the overall performance rankings, outperforming other states on multiple indicators according to the 2009 edition of The Commonwealth Fund's State Scorecard on Health System Performance.
In 2009, Iowa tied with Hawaii for second place. The following states rank in the top five for the 2009 scorecard:
1. Vermont
2. Hawaii/Iowa
4. Minnesota
5. Maine/New Hampshire
Every two years, The Commonwealth Fund provides their State Scorecard, ranking all states using four major categories:
- Access to care (by both children and adults)
- Prevention and treatment (including screening and preventive care, surgical infections, and provider interactions)
- Avoidable hospital use and costs (including pediatric admissions and short-stay nursing home residents with hospital readmissions within 30 days)
- Healthy lives (including mortality rates, adults who smoke, and children who are obese)
“Unfortunately, where you live does matter in terms of your ability to access the health care system and the quality of care you receive," said Yvonne O’Brien, Chief Nursing Officer at Pella Regional Health Center. “Fortunately, by living in Iowa we are at the top when it comes to the wide variation seen with access and quality. At Pella Regional, we work very hard on having very high quality standards, and this report shows that hard work paying off for our communities.”
Report Highlights for Iowa
Iowa was one of six of the 13 top-ranked states to score in the top quartile on the equity dimension for low-income, uninsured and minority groups.
Iowa was also one of 13 states to again rise to the top quartile of the overall performance rankings. Though specific rankings shifted, these are the same states that were identified as top performers in the first State Scorecard two years ago.
“While we’re proud the results of this State Scorecard, it does show that there is still a lot of work to do across the health care system,” said Bob Kroese, Chief Executive Officer at Pella Regional Health Center. “We can do better in some areas and learn from other hospitals about their successes. There is always room for improvement. We have a great team here at Pella Regional, and with our recent construction we are set up very well to get even greater value and greater gains in positive outcomes for our patients. We’re very excited about what the future holds.”
Pella Regional Health Center is a not-for-profit provider of health care that is accredited by The Joint Commission. Its mission is to provide healthcare and healing services with Christian compassion. Information on Pella Regional Health Center and its clinics is available by calling Public Relations at 641-621-2358 or visiting the website, www.pellahealth.org.
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