Healthcare Bowl 2017: Atlanta vs New England

By Clive Riddle, February 3, 2017

The Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots square off this Sunday in Houston during a Lady Gaga concert (the halftime show.) But another performance between this two cities is playing out on a daily basis – healthcare indicators. Let’s see how Atlanta vs. New England stack up in a healthcare bowl.

Instead of the venue for this comparison being NRG stadium in Houston, we find ourselves at The Big Cities Health Coalition, a “forum for the leaders of America’s largest metropolitan health departments to exchange strategies and jointly address issues to promote and protect the health and safety of the 54 million people they serve.” Their playing field is a Data Platform that features over 17,000 data points across 28 large cities.

Here’s the selected results from their data platform. Let’s score 7 points when one city’s indicator bests the US average and the other city is below the US average, and 3 points the better city when both or neither best the US average. Data is from 2013, and represents Fulton County for Atlanta and the Boston metropolitan area for New England.

• ·         Uninsured Rate: Atlanta 16.9%; Boston 4.4%; US 14.5%. New England takes a 7-0 lead.

• ·         Adult Obesity Rate: Atlanta 25.4%; Boston 21.7%; US 28.3%. New England extends their lead to 10-0.

• ·         Heart Disease Mortality per 100,000:  Atlanta 157.3; Boston 133.6; US 169.8. New England goes up 13-0.

• ·         Diabetes Mortality per 100,000: Atlanta 19.3; Boston 19.4; US 21.2. To close to call. The score at halftime remains New England 13, Atlanta 0.

• ·         Asthma Annual ER visits per 10,000: Atlanta 49.8; Boston 125.8%; No US average provided. Atlanta now trails 13-3.

• ·         Opioid related unintentional drug overdose mortality rate per 100,000: Atlanta: 9.4; Boston 16.8; US 4.2. Atlanta cuts further into the lead, now trailing 13-6

• ·         Smoking: Atlanta 16.0%; Boston 18.4%; US 17.9%. Atlanta ties the score 13-13.

• ·         All Cancer Mortality per 100,000: Atlanta 159.3; Boston 176.1; US 163.2. Atlanta wins 20-13.

There you have it – Atlanta wins the Healthcare Bowl 2017 by a score of 20-13.