Scientific Advisory Committee 

In 2002, United Health Foundation, in concert with the American Public Health Association (APHA) and Partnership for Prevention, commissioned the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to undertake an ongoing review of America's Health Rankings™.  The Scientific Advisory Committee, led by Thomas Ricketts, Ph.D., M.P.H., was charged with conducting a thorough review of the current index and recommending improvements that would maintain the value of the comparative, longitudinal information; reflect the evolving role and science of public health; utilize new or improved measures of health as they become available and acceptable; and incorporate new methods as feasible.  Minor issues with data are always addressed immediately and incorporated into the contents of the next edition of the report.  However, more significant issues, such as new measurements of health conditions, require more in-depth study and analysis.  Several changes in the methodology were made to the 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006 Editions at the recommendation of the Committee.  Previous Editions are available at www.unitedhealthfoundation.org. 

The Scientific Advisory Committee continues their review, and their input is reflected in this Edition.  The Committee continues to emphasize the importance of this tool as a vehicle to promote and improve the general discussion of public health and, also, encourage balance among public health efforts to benefit the entire community. 

The panel made several suggestions regarding the 2007 Edition.  Its suggestions include:

• Moving toward dividing the measures into health determinants and health outcomes to fully illustrate the difference between what actions can be taken to improve health and the status of current health which is dependent upon past behaviors and policies.

• Using a direct alcohol abuse indicator instead of motor vehicle deaths.
• Linking prospective factors more directly to policies, where possible.
• Including more specificity on disparities.
• Considering access factors such as primary care supply and preventable hospitalizations in addition to lack of health insurance.

In addition, the panel continues to work on issues concerning environmental health indicators, methods of expressing variability within the rankings, oral health indicators, mental health indicators, health disparities, improved cost measures, quality of care measures and international benchmarking.

The methodology review group represents a variety of stakeholders, including representatives from state health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, members of APHA, as well as experts from many academic disciplines.  Scientific Advisory Committee members include:

Thomas C. Ricketts, Ph.D., M.P.H. Chair
Professor of Health Policy and Administration and Social Medicine
School of Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dave Kindig, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Senior Adviser, Population Health Institute
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Patrick Remington, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor
Director, Population Health Institute
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Jonathan Fielding, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., M.A.
Professor of Health Services and Pediatrics
School of Public Health
Department of Health Services
University of California - Los Angeles
Director of Public Health and Health Officer
Los Angeles County, California

Matthew McKenna, M.D., M.P.H.
Director, Office of Smoking and Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Leiyu Shi, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Health Policy and Management
Associate Director, Primary Care Policy Center
School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University

Marthe Gold, M.D.
Logan Professor and Chair
Department of Community Health
Medical School
City University of New York

John Booker, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Public Health Practice
Institute for Public Health
University of New Mexico

Glen P. Mays, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor, Vice Chair, Director of Research
Department of Health Policy and Management
Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Steven Teutsch, M.D. M.P.H.
Executive Director
Outcomes Research and Management
Merck & Co., Inc.

Dennis P. Andrulis, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Associate Dean for Research and
Director, Center for Health Equality
Drexel University School of Public Health 

John Lynch, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed.
Professor of Epidemiology
Canada Research Chair in Population Health Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health
McGill University, Quebec

William Dow, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Health Economics
Division of Health Policy and Management School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley

Jeffrey Koshel,.
Deputy Division Director,
MCHB/DSCH
Health Research and Services Administration
Department of Health and Human Services

Paul Erwin, M.D., M.P.H.
Director, Center for Public Health Policy and Research
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Georges Benjamin, M.D.
Executive Director
American Public Health Association

Tom Eckstein, M.B.A.
Principal
Arundel Street Consulting, Inc.