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How does your state do on hospital social responsibility?

The Lown Institute just released the fourth version of the Lown Hospitals Index, the first hospital ranking of social responsibility. The Index measures patient outcomes, value of care, and health equity to create a holistic evaluation of social responsibility.

There are top-performing hospitals all across the country, but some states do better than others on each category. How do hospitals in your state perform? Let’s take a look…

Top ten states, outcomes

State# of hospitalsAverage rank, patient outcomes
Rhode Island9842
Hawaii131070
Utah391146
Virginia761191
Colorado701203
Connecticut261219
Ohio1401239
Florida1681393
Massachusetts551455
Michigan1121457

The hospitals in these states had the best average ranks on outcomes. The Lown Index includes metrics of clinical outcomes like mortality and readmissions, adjusting for patient risk, along with patient safety and patient satisfaction. There are states from most geographic regions on this list, although New England and Western states are more represented.

Top ten states, equity

State# of hospitalsAverage rank, equity
New Mexico341104
Washington, DC61228
Mississippi771280
Alaska121321
Louisiana851436
Tennessee881447
Delaware61479
Texas2871484
Kentucky901493
Montana351511

These states top the list on equity, having the best average rankings across all hospitals. Hospitals are evaluated on pay equity (how much they pay their CEOs relative to other workers), community benefit (spending on financial assistance and other community health needs), and inclusivity (how well hospitals serve all patients in their community).

Hospitals in the South and West are highly represented here, possibly because hospitals in these states serve a higher-need population and rural hospitals pay their executives less than those in urban areas. Hospitals in states with more dense urban areas tend to have segregated hospital markets, so the low inclusivity ranks of some hospitals may cancel out the high inclusivity of others.

Top ten states, value

State# of hospitalsAverage rank, value
Rhode Island9454
Massachusetts55588
Washington, DC6718
Connecticut26847
Hawaii13976
Colorado70998
Delaware61123
Utah391224
Virginia761243
New Hampshire251273

These are the states with the best average rankings in value of care. Hospitals are evaluated on how well they avoid unnecessary services and their cost efficiency for Medicare patients. New England and Western states are highly represented here, which may reflect geographic differences in hospital culture around low-value care.

Top ten states, social responsibility

State# of hospitalsAverage rank, social responsibility
Rhode Island9753
Hawaii13885
Washington, DC6897
Utah391073
Colorado701115
Massachusetts551145
Oregon571187
Connecticut261253
Virginia761298
Delaware61321

These are the states with the best average hospital social responsibility ranks! Most of these states are in the New England or Western region, although DC and Virginia also rank in the top ten.

See how your hospital did on the Lown Index by visiting our website.

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