Best & Worst States for Health Care

[Elizabeth]

This was an interesting article published by WalletHub, which I enjoyed reviewing, so thank you for sharing that with us. I understand that WalletHub used various components to determine the overall ranking of the best and worst states for healthcare. I found it interesting that although Rhode Island was ranked #1 as the state with the best healthcare system, Massachusetts was ranked #1 with its outcomes and #2 overall. In the outcomes category, Rhode Island was placed as #11. Patient outcomes are critical indicators of the quality of healthcare delivery. The success of medical treatments and interventions should be measured by the ability to improve patient health and well-being. Patients expect to receive the best possible care. Healthcare providers must aim to deliver care that results in positive outcomes, such as better health, increased quality of life, and reduced healthcare costs. Although Rhode Island ranked #1 overall, the ranking in the cost section was #3, and the outcomes at #11, so it is interesting to see the ties between cost and patient outcomes. After the COVID-19 pandemic, burnout among healthcare providers has increased dramatically, impacting each state’s healthcare delivery system and leading to poor patient outcomes and shortages among healthcare professionals. I am curious to see how these findings will differ in 2023.

[Kevin Kim]

As a resident of California, it was interesting to see how low we were in the rankings compared to the rest of the state. I am curious to see if the size of the state plays a major role in the overall score. I did notice that the top 3 states did have smaller land masses compared to the other states. I was attempting to identify a pattern such as higher costs resulting in better patient outcomes but that did not seem to be the case either. Although this article shows the research of the states I would like to see the results of the cities/counties with the best healthcare outcomes as well. Considering that New York, California, and other states have major cities I wonder if they would have better rankings than the overall state. The research utilized key factors such as cost, access, and outcomes. The U.S. healthcare system has always been seen in a negative light compared to other major global powers. Although these rankings of the the U.S. States provides important insight into our healthcare system, I feel we should also see how we stand globally to really get perspective on how efficient the system is.

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