As state agencies prepare state budget proposals and the Ohio General Assembly prepares for the next two-year session, a forum hosted by the Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO) on December 8 explored the three priority areas that emerged from Ohio’s 2016 State Health Assessment – those priority areas are maternal and infant health; chronic disease; and mental health and addition.
Ohio Academy of Family Physicians Executive Vice President Ann Spicer attended the forum and represented the OAFP on the State Health Assessment Advisory Committee.
Ohio is a large and diverse state that faces many health challenges despite a wealth of health care resources. Several national scorecards and rankings place Ohio in the bottom quartile of states for health. Even more troubling, Ohio’s performance on population health outcomes has steadily declined relative to other states over the past few decades. Ohio also has significant health disparities by race, income and geography, and spends more on health care than most other states.
- Inform identification of priorities in the state health improvement plan
- Provide a template for state agencies and local partners with a uniform set of categories and metrics to use in related assessments.
View an executive summary of the 2016 State Health Assessment’s key findings.
The OAFP Board of Directors will be meeting with HPIO President Amy Rohling McGee at its January meeting to discuss the findings and how those findings can best be aligned with the OAFP’s activities and work.