I’ve had many operators from multiple states tell me that their state is the worst in the country from a survey and regulatory perspective. That’s normal. The framework for the system is so punitive that it’s awful everywhere.

But, by definition, every state can’t be the worst in the country. Within this awful system there are some states that are relatively good and some that are truly horrible.

Until now, there hasn’t been a way to objectively analyze where each state stands, including our subject state of Illinois.

Enter Steven Littlehale, the chief innovation officer at Zimmet Healthcare Services Group. He has solved the state regulatory measurement void. And he’s done it in a brilliant way. Steven has selected 12 criteria for our new State Regulatory Index, weighted the criteria for importance, and then created a scoring system for all 50 states and DC. His methodology has been thoughtful. Each of the 12 items stands on its own and there is little or no overlap.

The 12 criteria are:

• Number of Civil Money (Monetary) Penalty (CMP) fines

• Amount of CMPs

• Percent of G or greater tags that were IJ

• Percent of all deficiencies that were IJ

• Percent of deficiencies that were from complaints

• Denial of payments for new admissions

• Discretionary denial of payments for new admissions

• Days between survey

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• Months on Special Focus Facility (SFF) list

• Candidate SFF months

• Average health score

Using this scale, Illinois ranks right in the middle. It’s better in some areas than in the rest of the country, and worse in others. But, when you add it all up, it’s not bad. Check out Steven’s video where he explains his methodology and gives Illinois its grade.

Questions or comments? Contact Patrick Connole at pconnole@parkpluslive.com.