Which states have the best and worst healthcare systems?

Minnesota was ranked no. 1, while Alaska finished at the bottom, in a state-by-state ranking of healthcare quality and cost-effectiveness by personal finance site WalletHub.

To come up with the rankings of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the study used 29 different metrics, including average monthly premiums, number of physicians and hospital beds per capita, and percentage of adults who haven’t visited a doctor in the past two years.

Minnesota ranked in the top five in several categories, including having the lowest average monthly premium at $234. It had the third highest percentage of physicians accepting Medicare, fifth highest percentage of insured adults and had the third lowest rate of heart disease.

The state at the bottom of the list, Alaska, had the second-highest cost for a medical visit at $174 and was among the worst five states for average premiums ($567 per month), youth health insurance coverage (88 percent) and percentage of at-risk adults who haven’t made a routine doctor visit in two years (16.3 percent).

The overall top five were:

1. Minnesota
2. Maryland
3. South Dakota
4. Iowa
5. Utah

In the categories most relevant to health systems:

• Hospital beds per 1,000 residents: Most was D.C. (6.97), least was Oregon (2.05)
• Percentage of medical residents retained: Highest was California (69.8 percent), lowest was D.C. (15.4 percent)
• Physician acceptance rate for Medicare: Best was North Dakota (95.2 percent), worst was Hawaii (75.5 percent)
• Physician acceptance rate for Medicaid: Highest was Nebraska (96.5 percent), lowest was New Jersey (38.7 percent)
• Average emergency department wait time: Lowest was Utah (16 minutes), highest was D.C. (54 minutes)
• 30-day hospital readmissions rate: Lowest was Idaho (12.1 percent), highest was West Virginia (15.8 percent)