Researchers, policymakers, sociologists and doctors have long asked how to best measure the health of a nation, yet the challenge persists. The nonprofit State of the USA, Inc. (SUSA) is taking on this challenge, demonstrating how to measure the health of the United States. The organization is developing a new website intended to provide reliable and objective facts about the U.S. in a number of key areas, including health, and to provide an interactive tool with which individuals can track the progress made in each of these areas.

In 2008, SUSA asked the Institute of Medicine's Committee on the State of the USA Health Indicators to provide guidance on 20 key indicators to be used on the organization's website that would be valuable in assessing health. Each indicator was required to demonstrate:

• a clear importance to health or health care,
• the availability of reliable, high quality data to measure change in the indicators over time,
• the potential to be measured with federally collected data, and
• the capability to be broken down by geography, populations subgroups including race and ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

Taken together, the selected indicators reflect the overall health of the nation and the efficiency and efficacy of U.S. health systems. The complete list of 20 can be found in the report brief and book.

Contents

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• COMMITTEE ON THE STATE OF THE USA HEALTH INDICATORS
• Reviewers
• Acknowledgments
• Letter Report
  • COMMITTEE CHARGE
  • COMMITTEE PROCESS
  • TRACKING PROGESS IN HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE
  • FRAMEWORK FOR INDICATOR DEVELOPMENT
  • INDICATORS
  • DISPARITIES
  • RECOMMENDATIONS
  • REFERENCES
• Appendix A Agenda
• Appendix B Some Current Health Indicator Reports
• Appendix C Domain Estimates, Reliability, and Small-Area Estimation
• Appendix D The Commonwealth Fund Algorithm and Coding for Preventive Services

This study was supported by contracts between the National Academy of Sciences and the State of the USA, Inc. (4108); F.B. Heron Foundation (Unnumbered Award); and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (2007-9452). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.

Suggested citation:

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2009. State of the USA Health Indi cators: Letter Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.