Diagnosis
Per Bob LaMendola, Sun Sentinel, on March 14th, “South Floridians are pretty healthy, but many parts of the local health care system are not well, according to a first-time national scorecard issued Tuesday.
The ranking of 306 U.S. communities found that a region including Palm Beach and most of Broward counties ranked a little above average, in 137th place, while the Miami metropolitan area ranked near the bottom at 253rd.”
The region's good scores for low rates of obesity, smoking, cancer death rates and others were offset by poor scores for cost, unnecessary health spending and preventable illness among a high number of people without health insurance, said researchers at the non-partisan research group Commonwealth Fund.
"We have one of the least coordinated health care systems in the country," said Dr. Laurence Gardner, an executive dean at the University of Miami medical school, who was not involved in the report. "It's hard to access and hard to navigate. It's not an easy place to get health care."
Overall, the report found that the South scored lower on health care than the Northeast and upper Midwest, but officials said every community had areas in which doctors, hospitals, elected officials and patients could improve.
The region including Broward and Palm Beach counties ranked low nationally on:
• Lack of health insurance*: Adults (31 percent vs. 20 percent nationally) and children (15.6 percent vs 6.2 percent).
• High costs: Medicare spending (33 percent above the national average); and high use of imaging tests ($622 per patient, twice the national average).
• Hospitals: Low patient satisfaction with response to call buttons and pain needs (58 percent vs. 63 percent national average); and only 78 percent of hospitals giving patients good instructions for when they get home (vs. an 83 percent national average).
But the region scored top grades on a dozen rankings, including: low obesity, low smoking, high survival for breast cancer and colorectal cancer, avoiding mistakes in prescriptions, and taking appropriate steps to help heart and pneumonia patients in the hospital.
*In internationally diverse communities like So. Florida, many families assume that their country of origin impacts their ability to be insured locally. Several insurance companies now insure internationally, and quotes are easily available through their websites and email.
I see it happen every day in my work, when people come in for hospital treatment without insurance … it’s not a place you want to be.
The ranking of 306 U.S. communities found that a region including Palm Beach and most of Broward counties ranked a little above average, in 137th place, while the Miami metropolitan area ranked near the bottom at 253rd.”
The region's good scores for low rates of obesity, smoking, cancer death rates and others were offset by poor scores for cost, unnecessary health spending and preventable illness among a high number of people without health insurance, said researchers at the non-partisan research group Commonwealth Fund.
"We have one of the least coordinated health care systems in the country," said Dr. Laurence Gardner, an executive dean at the University of Miami medical school, who was not involved in the report. "It's hard to access and hard to navigate. It's not an easy place to get health care."
Overall, the report found that the South scored lower on health care than the Northeast and upper Midwest, but officials said every community had areas in which doctors, hospitals, elected officials and patients could improve.
The region including Broward and Palm Beach counties ranked low nationally on:
• Lack of health insurance*: Adults (31 percent vs. 20 percent nationally) and children (15.6 percent vs 6.2 percent).
• High costs: Medicare spending (33 percent above the national average); and high use of imaging tests ($622 per patient, twice the national average).
• Hospitals: Low patient satisfaction with response to call buttons and pain needs (58 percent vs. 63 percent national average); and only 78 percent of hospitals giving patients good instructions for when they get home (vs. an 83 percent national average).
But the region scored top grades on a dozen rankings, including: low obesity, low smoking, high survival for breast cancer and colorectal cancer, avoiding mistakes in prescriptions, and taking appropriate steps to help heart and pneumonia patients in the hospital.
*In internationally diverse communities like So. Florida, many families assume that their country of origin impacts their ability to be insured locally. Several insurance companies now insure internationally, and quotes are easily available through their websites and email.
I see it happen every day in my work, when people come in for hospital treatment without insurance … it’s not a place you want to be.