The Healthy Marketplace Index Report (HMI) shows the economic performance of more than 40 healthcare markets across the country. Developed by the Healthcare Cost Institute, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the HMI is one of the most comprehensive sets of local-level measures of healthcare financing and delivery available for the privately insured population. Using the HMI, communities can better assess the factors that influence both the affordability and value of healthcare and see how their healthcare markets compare to other markets.
In an accompanying data brief and interactive mapping tool, HCCI highlights geographic variations illuminated by the HMI, comparing healthcare prices and utilization across markets.
HCCI’s analysis also found stark differences between markets within the same state. For example, in Colorado, price levels (prices) for inpatient care in the Fort Collins area are, on average, 43 percent higher than prices in the Colorado Springs market. However, HCCI also identified states where markets were more aligned with one another. For example, in Georgia, inpatient and outpatient prices in the Atlanta metropolitan area are similar to those in the Augusta area.
“No single measure can predict the health of a local market. However, the Healthy Marketplace Index gives us a much clearer picture of how healthcare systems are performing,” says Eric Barrette, Director of Research, HCCI. “We hope that this information will help researchers, employers, health plans, and providers better understand the markets they operate in and develop meaningful policies that improve the value of healthcare services.”
The HMI includes metrics related to three aspects of the economic environment of healthcare markets: price, productivity, and competition. The price indices use a common “basket” of healthcare services for inpatient care and outpatient care.
The productivity index components include measure of population health and healthcare services use. Measures of hospital concentration, related to the competition aspects of markets, are also include in the HMI. Healthcare markets are defined by Core Based Statistical Areas for these analyses. The HMI covers the period from 2011 through 2013.
