Description:
One of the most surprising (and concerning) aspects of the U.S. health care system is the wide variation – or difference – in performance. In other words, where you live determines what kind of health care you receive! Regions and localities may differ in the prevention and treatment of certain medical conditions, access to care and public health initiatives. As a result, health outcomes are different. Through their interactive map, the Commonwealth Fund has identified states with the best and worst health outcomes, and everyone in between. Students will visit the Commonwealth Fund’s interactive site (link below) and compare Texas with other states.
Guidelines
Directions: Read ALL directions – Scroll to bottom!
Go to: The Commonwealth Fund – Health System Data Center
The site can be found at http://datacenter.commonwealthfund.org (Links to an external site.)
Explore data by State
Select Texas
Scroll down to section: Texas Highlights
What is Texas’ 2020 overall ranking?
Scroll down to section: Texas Performance Data (Expand the indicators)
Select 2 indicators. Make sure to expand the list to see all indicators.
Describe the indicators. What are they? Why did you choose them? What do they reveal about the health care system?
Report how Texas performed over the course of the 4 years of reported data – 2017, 2018, 2019,2020
Has Texas improved, gotten worse or stayed the same?
Scroll back up to Texas Highlights
Click on “see more” under the ranking to see 2020 scorecard
Select Texas
Take a look at the scorecard categories: Ranking Highlights, Demographics, Highlights
What are the significant takeaways, in your opinion?
Scroll down to the section Comparison with the U.S. Average
Describe this data. How did Texas perform? Did it outperform or underperform the average for the country?
Scroll down to the section Estimated Gains
This section describes the gains for Texas is it was to perform at the level of:
Top state in the U.S.
Top state in the Southwest Region
What is the most significant gain(s) for Texas, in your opinion? Why?
Select a different state and REPEAT steps 1-7 for that state.
Choose the SAME indicators – when possible – for the state you select. This will allow for a better comparison.
Remember to include an analysis of the health care system. Sample questions to explore:
Given the health outcomes in Texas (and/ the state you selected), what kind of improvements would the state need to implement in order to strengthen its health care system?
What are the current strengths in the system?
What are the limitations that may impact improvements – economic, geographic, political, and cultural?
Is a national comparison fair to a state such as Texas, given its geographic breadth and variation? Which states may be a better comparison?
Do you see any change in the future that may impact the performance of Texas or the selected state?
These questions are merely suggestions in order to assist your analysis and are there to generate your ideas given what you have learned in this course so far. You do not need to produce “evidence”, per se. However, referencing course content is recommended.
Submission and Format Instructions:
Submit a 3-4 page (1100 words) essay on Canvas. *Minimum requirement
Check directions on course site for additional details for assignment submission.
Each essay should have a document title as: Assignment3_YourLastName_YourFirstName
Example: Assignment3_Smith_Mary
Format:
Arial font
11 pt.
Double spaced
Normal margins
