A report on Nebraskas health status reveals that more than 50 percent
of all hospital stays are paid for by Medicare and Medicaid, making Nebraska
hospitals highly vulnerable to major changes in public policies. In the
states efforts to provide health insurance to uninsured children, the
Kids Connection program increased its enrollment in one year by 15,000.
In 1998, an estimated 24,000 Nebraska children under 19 who are at or below
the poverty level do not have health insurance.
This and other information which can be used to evaluate and improve
the health of Nebraskans is available in The Nebraska Health Information
Project: 1999 Databook. The report includes reports tailored to policymakers,
administrators, advocates, educators and researchers and addresses statistics
on availability, cost and quality of health care in Nebraska, as well as
information on potentially preventable hospitalizations. It also is intended
to help identify priorities for investing state dollars for the improvement
of health care delivery in the state.
The databook includes information such as primary care and mental health
care shortage areas, characteristics of statewide hospital discharges such
as most frequent reason for hospitalization, average length of stay, and
average charge, number of licensed and certified health professionals,
number and type of hospitals in Nebraska, insurance status of Nebraskans,
health status of Nebraskans, and leading causes of deaths. Much of
this information is reported at the state and county levels.
The five leading causes of death in Nebraskans are: heart disease, cancer,
cerebrovascular, accidents and chronic lung disease; about 22 percent of
Nebraskans smoke cigarettes and about 57 percent of Nebraskans report always
wearing a safety belt, according to the databook.
There are many Nebraska communities that remain in need of health care
professionals, said Keith Mueller, Ph.D., UNMC professor of preventive
and societal medicine. Shortages exist in 51 of our 93 counties.
Since 1994, the databook has been published every other year by the
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with the
Nebraska Center for Rural Health Research at the University of Nebraska
Medical Center, and the Nebraska Association of Hospitals and Health Systems.
The 200-page book is organized into six chapters: demographics, health
professionals, health care facilities, insurance and health expenditures,
health status and hospital discharges. The information can be used as a
measure of success of health care access, as well as cost and quality of
health care in Nebraska.
The databook is available at the UNMC Bookstore for $40. To get a copy,
call (402) 559-4455. More information about the book, including a table
of contents, can be accessed on the Internet at http://www.unmc.edu/nebraska
or by calling the Nebraska Center for Rural Health Research at (402) 559-5260.