Quality, cost of medical care vary widely in CA

The Commonwealth Fund, a New York foundation that studies the U.S. healthcare market, ranked 306 communities nationwide on key areas of health system performance, such as whether patients are getting timely preventive care and avoiding unnecessary hospital stays and whether healthcare is affordable. The report expands on previous research showing wide variations in the quality and cost of medical care across the country and within states. This marked the first time that the Commonwealth Fund drilled down into the differences among local areas.