In response to a recommendation from the Institute of Medicine, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Health Resources and Services Administration are leading an effort to monitor the status of the health care safety net. This initiative consists of a broad range of local area measures related to safety net providers and the populations they serve (select for Fact Sheet).
One of the challenges in monitoring the Nation's health care safety net is that safety net services are provided in a myriad of different configurations, largely at the local level. Book 1. Data for Metropolitan Areas presents data from 90 metropolitan areas in 30 States and the District of Columbia, including 354 counties and 171 cities. The data describe the health care safety net where 80 percent of Americans with family incomes below the Federal poverty line live.
For data from all 1,818 counties in these States (nonmetropolitan and metropolitan counties), go to Book 2. Data for States and Counties.
Select to download the print version of Book 1. Data for Metropolitan Areas (PDF File, 8 MB). PDF Help. An online query tool and electronic versions of the data are available.
Safety Net Measures in this Data Book, their Definitions, and Data Sources
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Place Matters
Chapter 3: Demand for Safety Net Services
Chapter 4: Financial Support for Safety Net Services
Chapter 5: Safety Net Structure and Health System Context
Chapter 6: Community Context
Chapter 7: Outcomes and Safety Net Performance
Chapter 8: Where to Find Additional Information
Demand for Safety Net Services
Financial Support for Safety Net Services
Structure of the Safety Net—Inpatient Care
Structure of the Safety Net—Concentration and Distribution of Inpatient Uncompensated Care and Medicaid Discharges
Structure of the Safety Net—Ambulatory Care
Community Context—Population
Community Context—Race/Ethnicity
Community Context—Indices of Racial and Economic Seperation
Community Context—Immigrant Population
Community Context—Economy
Community Context—Living Arrangements, Housing, Education, and Crime
Access-Related Outcome Measures—Preventable/Avoidable Hospitalizations (Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions)
Access-Related Outcome Measures—Births
Access-Related Outcome Measures—Survey-Based Reported Barriers to Access
Appendix A: Technical Information
Table A-1: Safety Net Measures
in this Data Book, their Definitions, and Data Sources
Table A-2: Ambulatory Care Sensitive
(ACS) Conditions
Table A-3: Metropolitan Statistical
Areas With Counties Excluded
Table A-4: New England Counties
Appendix B: Key Terms and Concepts
Acknowledgments and Internet Citation
Return to Safety Net Monitoring
Data & Surveys
AHRQ Home Page
Department of Health and Human Services