New CMS tool maps health provider capacity by state, county

A new mapping and data tool from CMS allows web visitors to visualize the density of a range of health care providers relative to the number of consumers. The updated Market Saturation and Utilization Tool uses Medicare claims data and can be sorted by state or county. Policymakers can use the Tool for health services location planning and to asses how provider supply impacts utilization. Services in the Tool include ambulance, clinical lab, chiropractic, home health, hospice, long term care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and physical and occupational therapies. There is great variability between ERC states in all categories. For example, in ambulance services market saturation Vermont, Delaware and Rhode Island are in the bottom quartile while New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts are in the most concentrated quartile. New York is one of four states with extreme values of market saturation in most health service categories.