Overall quality of healthcare in Texas pales in comparison to all other states with home health scoring the weakest of all care settings, a 2011 U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality report found.
A meter score for overall healthcare of 31.61 out of a possible score of 100 earns Texas the worst overall health performance comparatively among all 50 states.
In measuring each state’s healthcare quality, types of care, settings of care, and care by clinical area are taken into account in addition to analyzing prevention efforts and care for acute and chronic conditions. The overall healthcare quality and each sub-group of care is measured using five categories which range from “very weak” to “very strong.”
Texas’ weakest setting of care is home health care measures, the report found. Texas home health care is measured as “very weak.” Nursing home care measures have a slightly higher quality, as they were scored as “average.”
According to the report, when a “very weak” score is achieved, it “means all or nearly all included measures for a state are below average within a give data year.”
Despite the weak scoring of overall healthcare, 10 different Texas healthcare organizations received between $1.6 million and $26.12 million in funding to improve health care quality and innovation through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Awards earlier this year.
Minnesota had the best meter score for overall health care with a score of 67.31.
Read the full report here.
Written by Erin Hegarty
