Barack Obama was in Green Bay, Wisconsin today because of the high value hospitals there have exhibited in terms of controlling medical spending while also providing good outcomes.  The trip is a direct response to the president’s recently acquired affection for the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, which does an outstanding job of measuring health care value and clearly shows that there is immense waste in U.S. health care spending.

We wrote about that earlier and noted, as the New York Times did, that Iowa is also a high-value state.  How does Iowa compare to Green Bay?  Well, a few minutes spent working with Dartmouth’s data tables revealed that the president chose well, but he could have done better by coming to Dubuque…or Mason City…or Iowa City…or Cedar Rapids.

When looking at Medicare spending during the last two years of a Medicare recipient’s life, a key measure in the Dartmouth report and in the Post story, the hospitals in those Iowa cities spend less than Green Bay, which came in at $33,334.  And the hospitals in Sioux City and even Des Moines – and the average for all of Iowa – were only about $500 higher. Overall, Iowa ($33,864) is a significantly better value than Wisconsin ($37,217).  (The national average is $46,412, while the average in the president’s hometown of Chicago is $62,565).

Patients in Dubuque and Mason City also spent less time in the hospital than in Green Bay, and patients in Mason City and Iowa City spent less time in intensive care units.  Patients in Mason City, Sioux City and Iowa City also had fewer visits with medical specialists, which helps keep costs lower.

Obviously, there are other factors at work to bring the president to Green Bay (including access to media).  But know this:  When the president talks about doing medicine the right way – the high-value way – he’s also talking about Iowa.