Benchmarking healthcare quality in the United States

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the quality of healthcare in the United States under increased scrutiny. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is charged with improving the safety and quality of the US healthcare system. The purpose of this study is to benchmark healthcare quality in the United States using data provided by AHRQ. The study consists of quality measures compiled by AHRQ that are utilised by the 48 contiguous states comprising the United States along with Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia. The measures are set against achievable benchmarks to assess US healthcare quality at the national, regional, divisional and state levels. The results of this study show that the Northeast region has the highest average number and percentage of healthcare quality benchmarks achieved in the United States. At the divisional level, New England leads the country in healthcare quality. An analysis at the state level reveals that Maine is the leader in healthcare quality in the Northeast region, Wisconsin and Iowa in the Midwest region, Delaware in the South region, and Colorado in the West region. The results of this study can be used by policymakers at the national, state and local levels to target healthcare quality improvement initiatives in the United States.