Two of the big draws to living in Colorado are the sunny days and endless opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. Unfortunately, not everyone can take full advantage of what Colorado has to offer when limited by illnesses and chronic conditions. Staying as healthy as possible is paramount to enjoying life to the fullest and it is the ultimate outcome of a high-performing health system. As a result, one of the three legs of the health care Triple Aim stool is improving health – in addition to lowering costs and raising the quality of health care for patients. The simultaneous focus on health ensures that cost-cutting and quality measures focus on outcomes and the overall health of the population.

Recent data released from the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) shows us where we can target efforts to improve the health of Coloradans. The interactive, online report shows prevalence of chronic conditions and certain types of cancer which can be devastating to patients and families emotionally, physically and financially.

Of the conditions analyzed, more Coloradans have hypertension, diabetes Type II and depression than any other chronic condition, and more Coloradans have breast cancer than cervical, colorectal or lung cancer.

Chronic Conditions: Percent Prevalence across Coloradans with Medicaid, Commercial and Medicare Advantage health insurance*

  • Asthma – 3.6%
  • Diabetes Type I – .4%
  • Diabetes Type II – 4.8%
  • Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) – .9%
  • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) – 2.1%
  • Depression – 5.1%
  • Hypertension – 11.9%

Cancers: Percent Prevalence across Coloradans with Medicaid, Commercial and Medicare Advantage health insurance

  • Breast – .8%
  • Cervical – .2%
  • Colorectal – .1%
  • Lung – .1%

We also put together a Chronic Condition Insights document that summarizes some of the key disparities we’ve noticed so far in the data. A few highlights include:

  • Diabetes Type II diagnoses are up 27% for Medicare Advantage patients from 2012-2015
  • In general, Asthma, Depression, and Diabetes Type II rates are highest in the Southeast portion of the state
  • Central mountain counties, including Gunnison, Pitkin and Eagle have some of the lowest prevalence of most conditions including Hypertension, Diabetes, COPD and CHF.

CIVHC’s mission is to support individuals, communities, and organizations working to advance the Triple Aim, and publicly reporting data like the chronic condition, cost of care, quality and utilization  reports from the CO APCD is one of the ways we aim to help inform interventions to create positive, lasting change. We hope this information is useful to those working to make sure their community stays healthy and can enjoy all of Colorado’s many perks.

Let us know if you’ve found interesting information from this report, are using the information to support your work, or have a recommendation for future public reports from the CO APCD by emailing us at info@civhc.org.

*Click here to learn about the methodology used to determine prevalence