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How Numbers Impact Programs, Policies, and People
Gary Nelson, PresidentHealthcare Georgia Foundation
Why we need to pay attention to the numbers ?
Numbers get things done…What gets measured gets done!
Example: Pre 39 week elective deliveries
Example: Deaths among isolated seniors
Example: Number of Grocery stores per square mile
Why we need to pay attention to the numbers?
Numbers enable us to focus our time, talents, and financial resources
Example: CDC Winnable BattlesTobaccoTeen PregnancyObesityHIV/AIDS
Teen pregnancy
New HIV diagnosis rates are higher in the Southeast and Northeast US
“If we keep doing what we have
been doing …..we will keep
getting what we got!”
Why we need to pay attention to the numbers?
Numbers allow us to evaluate and compare
Example: Kids Count
Example: County Health Rankings
Example: State Health Rankings
State Health Rankings---Georgia 2013
Overall Ranking 38Outcomes Rank 32Determinants Rank 40Diabetes Rank 28Smoking Rank 30Obesity Rank 30
Georgia ranked 38 in 2013. The Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH) has used America’s Health Rankings® to inform State Health Priorities…..
GDPH is developing a statewide telehealth network to address Georgia’s most pressing health issues and reduce access to care barriers.
To reduce rates of infant mortality, GDPH is partnering with the March of Dimes and area hospitals.
To reduce rates of obesity, Gov. Deal announced the Georgia SHAPE initiative
To reduce rates of tobacco, GDPH is partnering with school districts across the state to adopt 100 percent tobacco-free schools.
The 2009 Georgia General Assembly passed the Georgia Student Health and Physical Education Act.
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities— brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems”
Why we need to pay attention to the numbers?
Numbers help us define inequities
Example: Unequal Access
Example: Unequal Outcomes
"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in
health care is the most shocking and
inhumane." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Unequal Access
Hispanic/Latino persons make up the largest group of uninsured Georgians
Poverty rates for rural counties exceed those in urban counties by 58%
Rural counties have approximately ½ as many physicians
Unequal Outcomes
Death rates for African American babies in the first year of life 2 x the rate of white babies
The death rates from diabetes is 2 x higher for African- American women than for white women
African-American middle school children were more likely to be obese than white children
Why we need to pay attention to the numbers?
Numbers help inform the quality of our decisions
Example: ROI Atlanta Beltline
Example: ROI Charitable Clinic
Example: Medicaid Expansion
Recommendation #1: Collect the Evidence
Evidence of Need
Evidence of Demand
Evidence of Effectiveness
Recommendation #2: Communicate
Neighborhood Nexus
Savannah Community Indicators Project
Regional Report Card
http://www.neighborhoodnexus.org/
Indicators for County: Chatham View the Legend
Health
County Health Rankings
Clinical Care Ranking Comparison: GA Counties
Health Behaviors Ranking Comparison: GA Counties
Morbidity Ranking Comparison: GA Counties
Mortality Ranking Comparison: GA Counties
Physical Environment Ranking Comparison: GA Counties
Social and Economic Factors Ranking Comparison: GA Counties
Recommendation #3: Go Beyond the Numbers
“If we are to be successful in our work of
improving health and health care for
Georgians, it will be because in everything
we do, behind everything we say, as the
basis for every program decision we make,
we will be willing to see the faces”.
