Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times began a month-long series exploring the vast differences in the healthcare Americans receive, depending on where they live. I believe the stories will be helpful to all of us interested in health care reform, and in delivering the right care at the right time.
Following is an excerpt from the series’ lead author, Noam N. Levey:
The series – Unequal Treatment – examines what America’s healthiest communities do for their residents, and what’s missing in the nation’s least healthy places.
We begin by visiting clinics in Baton Rouge, La., and St. Paul, Minn., two state capitals on the Mississippi River separated by 1,200 miles and a yawning healthcare divide. Both clinics serve overwhelmingly poor patients, but one is achieving far better outcomes in a community that provides extensive health coverage, ensures patients get needed care and rigorously tracks results.
See the story here: http://www.latimes.com/healthcare-disparity
Future stories in the series, which was supported in part by a fellowship from AHCJ and The Commonwealth Fund, will examine: how a collaborative culture in northern Maine has helped keep residents healthy, despite the region’s low incomes; how decades of near universal health coverage in Hawaii has contributed to stellar cancer outcomes; and how Las Vegas is trying to overcome a legacy of abysmal health.
I hope you find the pieces interesting.
Noam N. Levey
National healthcare reporter
Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau
