Ranking the Seahawk’s Seattle vs. the Patriot’s Boston in the Health Care Bowl

By Clive Riddle, January 30, 2015

Given that the contest between the Seattle Seahawks  vs. the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX is a product of listing and ranking NFL teams (by wins and losses), perhaps some irrelevant insights into the outcome of that contest can be gleaned by comparing how the two cities rank in various healthcare lists.

Of course the immediate challenge is to assign a city to the Patriots. Foxboro- the site of their stadium? The entire New England region and all metro areas within? We’ll deflate their claim to a multi-state region, and go with just Boston.

Looking to healthsprocket, the site for healthcare lists, we find these eight lists posted during the past year, which include mention of Seattle or Boston.  The result is basically a tie, based on mentions – unless you deflate the Patriot’s claim to Springfield and Worcester, in which case Seattle might prevail in a sqeaker.

There is a list claiming overall healthcare rankings – that puts Boston at #2 with Seattle whiffing:

Ranking Of The Best Healthcare Cities In The U.S. (Source: iVantage Health Analytics)

1. Washington, DC
2. Boston
3. Minneapolis
4. Portland, OR
5. Chicago
6. Charlotte
7. Philadelphia
8. Atlanta
9. New York
10. St. Louis

On the other hand, Boston makes the Most Expense Healthcare Cities list (#9), unlike Seattle:

10 Most Expensive Cities for Healthcare (Source: Castlight Health)

1. Sacramento, CA
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Dallas, TX
4. St. Louis, MO
5. Kansas City, MO
6. Charlotte, NC
7. Denver, CO
8. Miami, FL
9. Boston, MA
10. Portland, OR

Seattle makes this list of lowest cost bronze plans (at #18) in 2014 public exchanges, unlike Boston

2014 Lowest Cost Bronze Plan After Subsidies by Largest City in Each State For A Single 25 Year Old (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation)

1. Los Angeles, CA - $140
2. Denver, CO - $142
3. Hartford, CT - $117
4. Washington, DC - $124
5. Indianapolis, IN - $157
6. Baltimore, MD - $115
7. Portland, ME - $146
8. Billings, MT - $152
9. Omaha, NE - $135
10. Albuquerque, NM - $122
11. New York City, NY - $111
12. Cleveland, OH - $136
13. Portland, OR - $130
14. Providence, RI - $127
15. Sioux Falls, SD - $173
16. 16.Richmond, VA - $127
17. 17.Burlington, VT - $116
18. 18.Seattle, WA - $138

Seattle is also the place to be if you don’t like waiting for your doctor – ranked at #1, with Boston not mentioned

Top 10 Cities With The Shortest Average Wait Times To See The Doctor (Source: Vitals)

1. Seattle, WA- 16 minutes, 15 seconds
2. Milwaukee, WI- 16 minutes, 17 seconds
3. Denver, CO- 16 minutes, 25 seconds
4. Minneapolis, MN- 16 minutes, 42 seconds
5. Portland, OR- 17 minutes, 05 seconds
6. Omaha, NE- 17 minutes, 23 seconds
7. Charlotte, NC- 17 minutes, 26 seconds
8. Austin, TX- 17 minutes, 32 seconds
9. San Diego, CA- 17 minutes, 43 seconds
10. Raleigh, NC- 17 minutes, 48 seconds

Boston Children’s comes in #1 in this list of best Children’s hospitals, while Seattle is ignored:

Deborah Kotz: The Honor Roll of Best Children's Hospitals 2014-15 (Source: The Boston Globe)

1. Boston Children’s Hospital/ Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (tied)
2. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
3. Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston
4. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
5. Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora
6. Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
7. Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
8. Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
9. Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Baltimore

If you use the Patriot’s inflated claim to the larger region, Springfield and and Worcester come in at #1, and #14 respectively  for best heart surgery hospitals, while Seattle has a hospital ranking #13, in the list:

Top 15 hospitals in U.S. for heart surgery (Source: Castlight Health)

1. Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, Mass.
2. Borgess Medical Center, Kalamazoo, Mich.
3. Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland
4. The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano, Plano, Texas
5. Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside Medical Center, Clackamas, Ore.
6. Kaleida Health (Gates Vascular Institute at Buffalo General Medical Center), Buffalo, N.Y.
7. Mother Frances Hospital-Tyler, Tyler, Texas
8. St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ypsilanti, Mich.
9. St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center, Syracuse, N.Y.
10. St. Vincent Heart Center of Indiana, Indianapolis
11. Sequoia Hospital, Redwood City, Calif.
12. Spectrum Health - Grand Rapids (Meijer Heart Center), Grand Rapids, Mich.
13. Swedish Medical Center-Cherry Hill Campus, Seattle
14. UMass Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, Mass.
15. Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, N.J.

Using an access benchmark, Boston ranks #5 while Seattle doesn’t make this list:

Top 10 Cities With The Highest Per-Capita Ratio Of Both Hospitals And Primary Care Physicians Per Resident (source: Vitals)

1. Cleveland
2. Minneapolis
3. Milwaukee
4. Kansas City
5. Boston
6. Omaha
7. Denver (tie)
8. Miami (tie)
9. Atlanta
10. Nashville

And finally, perhaps in a bit of a stretch, Seattle placing an Executive in the this Most Influential list, while Boston is ignored:

Modern Healthcare: 10 Most Influential Physician Executives And Leaders (source: Modern Healthcare)

1. Richard Gilfillan- President and CEO, CHE Trinity Health, Livonia, Michigan
2. John Noseworthy- President and CEO, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
3. Gary Kaplan- Chairman and CEO, Virginia Mason Health System, Seattle, Washington
4. Margaret Hamburg- Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, Washington
5. Ardis Dee Hoven- President, American Medical Association, Chicago, Illinois
6. Patrick Conway- Deputy Administrator for Innovation and Quality, CMO, CMS, Baltimore, Maryland
7. John Kitzhaber- Governor of Oregon
8. Glen Steele Jr.- President and CEO, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania
9. Jonathan Perlin- President, Clinical Services CMO, HCA, Nashville Chairman-elect, American Hospital Association, Nashville, Tennessee
10. Toby Cosgrove- CEO, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio