How Adequate Are State Data to Support Health Reform or Monitor Health System Change?

This article reports on results of a 1994 telephone survey sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to obtain better information on state policymakers' views of the quality of state-based health data and selected information on the actual data available. The findings suggest that state policymakers cannot identify easily who and how many are without health insurance coverage, nor do they know exactly how much money is spent in the state on health care and who spends it. They also cannot ascertain quality or consumers' satisfaction with health plans. Funding, lack of comparability across data sets, and the reluctance of providers and insurers to submit required data are perceived as barriers to improving data. Adopting realistic strategies to overcome these barriers may be crucial if states are to assume greater leadership in health policy and in monitoring health system performance.