Contents

• Dedication
• Front Matter
• The Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences
• Maps
• Figures
• Tables
• Introduction
  • Geographic Variations in Health Care
  • About Benchmarking in the Atlas
  • Tables
  • Strategies and Methods
  • About Rates in the Atlas
  • Making Fair Comparisons Between Hospital Service Areas
  • Communicating With Us About the Atlas
• Part One. The Geography of Health Care in the Great Plains States
• Part Two. Acute Care Hospital Resources and Expenditures in the Great Plains States
  • Acute Care Hospital Beds
  • Acute Care Hospital Employees
  • Registered Nurses Employed in Acute Care Hospitals
  • Total Acute Care Hospital Expenditures
  • Benchmarking: Acute Care Hospital Beds
  • Benchmarking: Hospital Employees
  • Benchmarking: Hospital-Based Registered Nurses
  • Benchmarking: Total Hospital Expenditures
  • Table 2
• Part Three. The Medicare Program in the Great Plains States
  • Medicare Reimbursements for Traditional (Noncapitated) Medicare
  • Medicare Reimbursements for Professional and Laboratory Services
  • Medicare Reimbursements for Inpatient Hospital Services
  • Medicare Reimbursements for Outpatient Services
  • Average Adjusted Per Capita Costs
  • Medicare Enrollment in Capitated Managed Care Plans
  • Benchmarking: Total Medicare Reimbursements
  • Benchmarking: Reimbursements for Professional and Laboratory Services
  • Benchmarking: AAPCC
  • Table 3
• Part Four. The Physician Workforce in the Great Plains States
  • The Physician Workforce Active in Patient Care
  • Specialist Physicians
  • Physicians in Primary Care
  • Benchmarking: The Physician Workforce Active in Patient Care
  • Benchmarking: Specialists
  • Benchmarking: Primary Care Physicians
  • Table 4
• Part Five. The Utilization of Hospitals for Medical and Surgical Conditions
  • Total Medicare Discharges
  • Medicare Discharges for Medical Conditions
  • Medicare Discharges for Surgical Procedures
  • Medicare Discharges for High Variation Medical Conditions
  • Contribution of Discharge Rate and Average Length of Stay to Patient Days of Hospitalization for High Variation Medical Conditions
  • Benchmarking: Discharges for Surgical Procedures
  • Benchmarking: Discharges for High Variation Medical Conditions
  • Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting
  • Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty
  • Coronary Angiography
  • Back Surgery
  • Transurethral Resection of the Prostate for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
  • Benchmarking: Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting
  • Benchmarking: Angiography
  • Table 5
• Part Six. Hospital Bed Allocation and Medicare Reimbursements for Inpatient Services by Hospital Service Area and Hospital by Location
  • Table 6

John E. Wennberg, M.D., M.P.H., Principal Investigator and Series Editor

Megan McAndrew Cooper, M.B.A., M.S., Editor

and other members of the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care Working Group

Co-investigators and Researchers

Thomas A. Bubolz, Ph.D.

Elliott S. Fisher, M.D., M.P.H.

Alan M. Gittelsohn, Ph.D.

David C. Goodman, M.D., M.S.

Jack E. Mohr

James F. Poage, Ph.D.

Sandra M. Sharp, S.M.

Jonathan Skinner, Ph.D.

Thérèse A. Stukel, Ph.D.

Administration, Data Production, and Technical Support

Kristen K. Bronner, M.A.

Nancy E. Cloud

Jiaqi Gong, M.S.

Katherine W. Herbst, M.S.

The views expressed in this publication are strictly those of the authors and do not necessarily represent official positions of the American Hospital Association.