Here’s how Whatcom hospitals and medical clinics performed in statewide survey
Whatcom County residents have a tougher time finding a doctor than most people in Washington state, according to the results of an annual survey.
“Community Checkup,” a report of data compiled by the Washington Health Alliance, compares hospitals, medical clinics and health-care networks in several categories every year.
Data is from 2018 and comes from several sources, including providers themselves, said alliance spokeswoman Leslie Bennett.
This year’s report covers 1,978 clinics, 376 medical groups, 123 hospitals, 16 health plans, 39 counties, and examined more than 110 performance measures for four million people. The report is located online at WACommunityCheckup.org.
“You have the ability for people to take a look at the quality of care in their community,” Bennett told The Bellingham Herald.
“It certainly gives people more information to make their decisions,” she said.
Results can be seen in two ways.
A PDF version of the report summarizes the data by medical group, showing how providers perform against statewide averages in 15 or more categories — such as diabetes treatment, managing anti-depressant medication, and childhood immunizations.
For example, it shows that Family Care Network, with clinics in Whatcom and Skagit counties, performs at the state average in 12 categories, below average in two categories and above average in 15 categories.
For those who want to examine the performance of health care providers in more detail, a “compare scores” section can be tailored to search for providers by county, organization or category.
That’s where data show that Whatcom County residents find it difficult to get access to a primary care physician, or personal doctor — especially for those with infants and young children, and those 20-44 years old.
Performance figures for Family Care Network were updated May 19, 2020.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
