Healthcare Analytics for Louisiana Hospitals and Clinics

Louisiana operates approximately 130 acute care hospitals across a state that has historically ranked at or near the bottom of national health outcome indices. Ochsner Health, with more than 40 hospitals and facilities concentrated in Southeast Louisiana, is the dominant health system in the state and one of the largest in the Deep South. LCMC Health operates seven hospitals in the New Orleans metro, including Children's Hospital New Orleans and University Medical Center New Orleans — the city's primary safety net academic medical center rebuilt following Hurricane Katrina. Willis-Knighton Health System dominates North Louisiana's Shreveport market with a strong regional presence, and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge is affiliated with the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System.

Louisiana Healthy Louisiana — the state's Medicaid program — expanded in 2016 under Governor John Bel Edwards and now covers more than 2 million Louisianans, representing approximately 43% of the state's population. This is the highest Medicaid population percentage of any state in the nation, reflecting Louisiana's concentration of poverty, high rates of chronic disease, and the decimating effect that hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and more recent storms have had on communities' economic stability. Healthy Louisiana manages its population through five MCOs: Aetna Better Health, Centene's Louisiana Healthcare Connections, Humana, Molina, and Peoples Health. Chronic disease burden is staggering: Louisiana leads the nation in diabetes prevalence at 14.3% of adults, ranks among the top five in obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer mortality, and faces a New Orleans-specific HIV prevalence that requires dedicated analytics infrastructure.

Louisiana Healthy Louisiana is administered by the Department of Health through five managed care organizations that hold full-risk contracts for the state's Medicaid population. MCOs impose HEDIS quality reporting and encounter data submission requirements on contracted providers, with Louisiana's high chronic disease burden creating elevated care gap closure expectations across diabetes management, cardiovascular disease, and behavioral health integration measures.

Louisiana providers participate in CMS value-based care programs, and the state's high rates of chronic disease create significant exposure under CMS readmission reduction penalty programs — particularly for CHF, COPD, and diabetes-related admissions. MIPS quality reporting applies to Louisiana physician practices, and Louisiana's unique HIV concentration in the New Orleans metro creates additional reporting requirements under Ryan White program-funded care networks. Louisiana's safety net hospitals — including University Medical Center New Orleans — carry disproportionate share hospital (DSH) reporting requirements tied to their high uncompensated care volumes.