MCDIN - Asthma Statistics & Data

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Welcome to Asthma Statistics & Data:

Cartoon of a man and a giant pie. Statistics and data are valuable tools to help prove that the work you are doing impacts directly upon patient care. Use this section to access asthma hospitalization rates, statistical charts, and other tools that will help you with your ability to report on the statistical impact of your services on healthcare and chronic disease management.

Massachusetts Map The Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy collects, analyzes, and disseminates information with the goal of improving the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of the health care delivery system in MA.

One approach to assessing our health care delivery system is to look at health care outputs or outcomes. Traditional outcome measures include mortality and morbidity rates. Another outcome measure is "preventable hospitalization" (PH) rates. Because lack of primary care for particular medical conditions often leads to hospitalization, it is possible to measure preventable hospitalization rates as a way of assessing primary care delivery, thereby identifying appropriate areas to improve in the health care delivery system. Certain ambulatory care sensitive conditions such as asthma, if treated in a timely fashion with adequate primary care and managed properly on an outpatient basis, should not advance to the point where hospitalization is required. Preventable hospitalization is the term used by the Division to describe inpatient hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions.

Information and data on preventable hospitalization is designed to serve as a tool for improving the health status of Massachusetts residents. It is also a tool for containing costs. This tool promotes the efficient use of health care resources primarily because encouraging appropriate delivery of primary care reduces the need for costly inpatient care.

The statistical tables, courtesy of the Division of Health Care Finance & Policy, listed below are based on FY 1998 Preventable Hospitalizations (PH) per 1,000 population for asthma in the categories of geographic area, age breakdown, and payor source. The addition of a payor source code allows for comparisons in performance among insurance plans and other Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO).

Links to Other State and Federal Statistics are Listed Below the Division of Heath Care Finance & Policy Data Tables.

MA Division of Health Care Finance & Policy Asthma Hospitalizations & Preventable Hospitalizations FY 1998
Massachusetts Residents (ZIP Codes 01001 - 02791) Asthma Hospitalizations
FY 1998, All Ages
Top 10	ZIP Code	City / Town	Counts
1	02124	Dorchester South	241
2	02401	Brockton	168
3	02119	Roxbury	143
4	01040	Holyoke	119
5	02125	Dorchester North	116
6	02126	Dorchester South	114
7	01841	Lawrence	106
8	02121	Dorchester North	106
9	02740	New Bedford	102
10	02149	Everett	95
Statewide			8,298

Massachusetts Residents (ZIP Codes 01001- 02791) Asthma Hospitalizations (PH) FY 1998 - Age Breakdown
Ages 0 - 17				Ages 18 - 64
Condition	Counts	Population¹	PH Rate²	Condition	Counts	Population	PH Rate
Asthma	2,313	1,408,527	1.64	Asthma	4,439	3,840,348	1.16
Ages 65+				All Ages
Condition	Counts	Population	PH Rate	Condition	Counts	Population	PH Rate
Asthma	1,546	878,634	1.76	Asthma	8,298	6,127,510	1.35

¹ -Population figures are from Claritas, Inc. ² - ph rates are per one thousand population. PH rate = counts/pop x 1,000

Massachusetts Residents (ZIP Codes 01001 - 02791) Preventable Hospitalizations (PH) Observation Stay Discharges FY 1998, All Ages
FY 1998, PH Observation Stays, All Ages	Counts	%
Diabetes	852	4.33%
Asthma	3,611	18.37%
Other PH Conditions	15,192	77.29%
Statewide	19,6555	100.00%

Massachusetts Residents (ZIP Codes 01001 - 02791) Asthma Hospitalizations FY 1998 - Age Breakdown
Asthma, Ages 0-17
PAYOR TYPE	COUNTS	%
HMO	858	37.09%
Medicaid non-Managed Care	442	19.11%
Medicaid Managed Care	305	13.19%
Blue Cross Managed Care	232	10.03%
Commercial non-Managed Care	145	6.27%
Blue Cross non-Managed Care	90	3.89%
Self-Pay	70	3.03%
PPO and other Managed Care Plan	68	2.94%
Free Care	37	1.60%
Commercial Managed Care	24	1.04%
Not Valid Code	22	0.95%
Other Government Payor	13	0.56%
Others*	7	0.30%
	2,313	100.00%

FY 1998, Asthma, Ages 18-64
PAYOR TYPE	COUNTS	%
HMO	1,096	24.69%
Medicaid non-Managed Care	686	15.45%
Medicare non-Managed Care	546	12.30%
Medicaid Managed Care	379	8.54%
Blue Cross Managed Care	367	8.27%
Self-Pay	323	7.28%
Commercial non-Managed Care	258	5.81%
Blue Cross non-Managed Care	252	5.68%
Free Care	174	3.92%
PPO and other Managed Care	164	3.69%
Other non-Managed Care Plan	44	0.99%
Commercial Managed Care	38	0.86%
Point of Service Plan	33	0.74%
Medicare Managed Care	32	0.72%
Not Valid Code	25	0.56%
Other Government Payor	18	0.41%
Others*	4	0.09%
	4,439	100.00%

FY 1998, Asthma, Ages 65+
PAYOR TYPE	COUNTS	%
Medicare non-Managed Care	1,179	76.26%
Medicare Managed Care	198	12.81%
HMO	64	4.14%
Commercial-non-Managed Care	24	1.55%
Not Valid Code	21	1.36%
Blue Cross Managed Care	16	1.03%
Medicaid non-Managed Care	15	0.97%
Free Care	10	0.65%
Blue Cross non-Managed Care	9	0.58%
Others*	10	0.65%
	1,546	100.00%

FY 1998, Asthma, All Ages

PAY0R TYPE

COUNTS

HMO

2,018

24.32%

Medicare non-Managed Care

1,725

20.79%

Medicaid non-Managed Care

1,143

13.77%

Medicaid Managed Care

685

8.26%

Blue Cross Managed Care

615

7.41%

Commercial non-Managed Care

427

5.15%

Self-Pay

396

4.77%

Blue Cross non-Managed Care

351

4.23%

PPO and other Managed Care Plan

234

2.82%

Medicare Managed Care

230

2.77%

Free Care

221

2.66%

Not Valid Code

1.12%

Commercial Managed Care

0.76%

Other Non-Managed Care Plan

0.58%

Other Government Payor

0.41%

Point of Service Plan

0.13%

Others*

0.05%

8,298

100.00%

* Note: To insure patient confidentiality, "others" are the sum of payor types with less than six discharges.

Links to Other Statistics
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)	The National Center for Health Statistics is the federal government's principal health statistics agency. NCHS data systems include data on vital events as well as information on health status, lifestyle and exposure to unhealthy influences, the onset and diagnosis of illness and disability, and the use of healthcare.
This site features the Healthy People 2000 & 2010 databases.
Centers for Disease Control	National Center for Health Statistics' downloadable fast statistics for all types of diseases and states. Contains national asthma statistics.
Agency for Health Care Policy & Research	Federal agency that researches quality standards and guidelines for health care services. Access to data collected through the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) and Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research - Quality Assessment Page	Site contains data management software programs and quality assessment resources. Click on Conquest 2.0 to download a copy of the Computerized Needs-Oriented Quality Measurement Evaluation System.
Health Care Finance Agency	HCFA's Information Clearing- house of statistics and searchable databases for clinical practice expenses and Medicare and Medicaid utilization and expenditures. Access to Public Use Files (PUF's) which include data on health facility and provider surveys.
Massachusetts Health Data Consortium	The Massachusetts Health Data Consortium collects, analyzes and disseminates health care information. The Consortium's information products, services and special projects support health policy development, technology planning and implementation, and improved decision making in the allocation and financing of health care.

"Sharing approaches...improving lives"

Welcome to Asthma Statistics & Data:

Links to Other State and Federal Statistics are Listed Below the Division of Heath Care Finance & Policy Data Tables.

Massachusetts Chronic Disease Improvement Network