Health of Alaskans: Health Status Indicators

1
Health of AlaskansHealth Status Indicators

• Health Care Strategies Planning Council
• July 30, 2007

Jay C. Butler, MD, FAAP, FACP Chief Medical
Officer
2
What Do We Measure to Assess Health?

• Outcome indicators
• Mortality
• Rates of specific illnesses and injuries
• Quality of life
• Process measures
• Health care and prevention service delivery
• Quality of care indicators

3
How Do We Measure?

• Vital statistics
• Surveillance and disease registries
• Administrative databases
• Self-reported perception of health

To What Do We Compare?

• Ourselves trends over time
• Others national and international data

4
Division of Public HealthAlaska Health Status
Indicators

• 35 indicators to represent a picture of health
  issues in Alaska
• Infectious diseases
• Chronic diseases
• Injuries
• Maternal and child health
• Health care access and safety
• When available, includes
• Trends over 10 years
• National data for comparison

5
Examples from Alaska Health Status Indicators

• The Good
• Ischemic heart disease mortality
• Declining rates
• Lower in Alaska than in US
• Hepatitis A incidence
• Declining rates
• Community-wide outbreaks prevented
• The Bad
• Unintentional injury death rate
• Despite declines, higher in Alaska than in US
• Chlamydia trachomatis incidence
• Increasing number of cases confirmed and reported
• Higher in Alaska than in US
• The Ugly
• Pertussis (whooping cough)
• Apparent dramatic increase, likely artifact of
  improved diagnostic testing

6
National Surveys and Assessments

• Aimer Higher state scorecard on health system
  performance
• Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High
  Performance Health System
• 32 indicators, including measures of
• Access to care
• Quality of care
• Potentially avoidable use of hospitals and costs
  of care
• Health lives
• Alaska ranked 26th among states
• Top quartile for healthy lives
• Bottom quartile for quality of care

7
National Surveys and Assessments

• Americas Health Rankings
• United Health Foundation in partnership with APHA
  and the Partnership for Prevention
• Assessment of population health outcomes based
  on
• Clinical care
• Community environment
• Personal behaviors
• Public and health policy
• Alaska ranks 31st among states in 2006 down from
  30th in 2005

8
Conclusions

• There is no perfect health-o-meter, but data
  are available that may be used to assess
  Alaskans health
• Over time
• In comparison with other populations
• Based on current data, there is much to do to
  achieve the vision of making Alaskans the
  healthiest population in the nation