What makes a community healthy? (LA Times)

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What makes a community healthy?

Two poor communities have contrasting approaches to healthcare. One takes a collaborative approach to medicine, creating better outcomes for residents receiving treatment.

By Noam N. Levey
Photography, video by Carolyn Cole
Reporting from Baton Rouge, La.

March 9, 2014

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The extremes in America's health system are striking. In some U.S. communities, people live longer, healthier lives than the residents of Europe's wealthiest nations. In America's least healthy regions, premature death and disease are as common as in parts of Asia and Latin America.

President Obama's health law, which takes full effect this year, was designed to narrow some of the disparities by expanding coverage and providing new tools for improving quality. But with some states embracing the law and others resisting it, the gaps in health from one region to another are poised to widen.

What makes a community healthy?

Poverty and wealth are part of the answer. How much schooling people have, what they eat and whether they smoke also play a role.

But so do decisions by doctors, hospitals, business leaders and elected officials about what local health systems should do. A review of data from the nation's 306 healthcare markets, as well as interviews with scores of experts and visits to communities from Maine to Hawaii, points to many common features of America's healthiest places.

More people have health insurance. Doctors and hospitals cooperate more closely, ensuring patients get preventive care and don't fall through the cracks. Civic and business leaders help drive community efforts to expand access to healthcare, measure results and improve quality.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-healthcare-disparity-20140309-dto,0,6819297.htmlstory#axzz2vUYUhWeW