Limited Resources Haven’t Stopped Western Kentucky from Making Broad Gains in Health Care
<p>In the Commonwealth Fund’s most recent <em>Scorecard on Local Health System Performance</em>, only a small fraction of U.S. health care markets made substantial progress between 2011 and 2014 in expanding access to care, lowering costs, and improving health outcomes. Several of these areas had higher-than-average poverty rates, like rural Western Kentucky.</p><p>In the first of a new series of Commonwealth Fund case studies examining four of the 14 local regions that improved the most, Sarah Klein, Martha Hostetter, and Douglas McCarthy show how Paducah and surrounding communities leveraged Kentucky’s Medicaid expansion to galvanize an array of improvement efforts. Local leaders established new federally qualified health centers while health care providers stepped up their efforts to meet the primary care needs of newly insured low-income patients. </p>
<p>Their story illustrates that even communities and regions with limited resources can make great strides when leaders and residents, supported by state and federal government, work together to address pressing health care needs.</p>
<p>Stay tuned for upcoming case studies of Stockton, California, Akron, Ohio, and Pueblo, Colorado.</p>