U.S. Average

Share of the Population With Heart Disease: 6.50%
Acute Myocardial Infarction (Deaths per 1,000 admissions): 81.70
Congestive Heart Failure (Deaths per 1,000 admissions): 38.00

U.S. Percentiles for Quality of Care

75th Percentile: 66.67
50th Percentile: 47.06
25th Percentile: 27.27

Heart Disease

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in United States—accounting for more than 700,000 deaths each year. Heart disease is broad term for a variety of more specific heart conditions; a more complete description can be found here.

Obesity, smoking and a variety of other factors related to both an individual and his or her environment influence the prevalence and impact of heart disease in a given state’s population.

The share of the population with heart disease measures the number of people over the age of 18 who have reported having coronary heart disease (when arteries become hardened and narrowed due to a build up of plaque), angina (chest pain) and/or a myocardial infarction (heart attack).
One way of estimating the impact of heart disease in a given state is to look at the mortality rates for specific heart conditions.

Acute Myocardial Infarction (Deaths per 1,000 admissions) measures the number of deaths in a given year where an acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) was the principal diagnosis upon admission to the hospital. The number the number is scaled down to deaths per 1,000 so that comparisons can be made.

Congestive Heart Failure (Deaths per 1,000 admissions) measures the number of deaths in a given year where an Congestive Heart Failure (or cardiac arrest) was the principal diagnosis upon admission to the hospital. The number the number is scaled down to deaths per 1,000 so that comparisons can be made.

The overall quality of heart disease care is a measure adapted from the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ)'s State Snapshots project. It summarizes the performance of state's health care system relative to national average on a broad range of quality measures specific to the treatment of heart disease.

A state's performance is measured on a scale of 0 to 100. A score of 0 would mean a state scored below the national average on all quality measures. A score of 100 would mean a state scored above the national average on all quality measures.

A potential 18 quality measures are included in the indicator (some data are not available for every state), such as the percent of heart attack patients given an aspirin within 24 hours of admission or the prescribed with a beta blocker at discharge.

For more on the AHRQ's methodology click here

Click here for sources