Forward

The development and publication of statistical indicators of the health status and well-being of populations has been increasing in the United States and internationally. These indicators still have less influence on health policy than the publication of data about leading economic indicators has on business decisions. However, indicators of health status are attracting attention among officials at all levels of government as well as among private-sector executives making decisions about such issues as where to locate or relocate operations.

The state of Oregon in 1989 began to devise indicators of well-being, calling them benchmarks, as part of a long-term project to improve the economy of the state initiated by then-governor Neil Goldschmidt. The Oregon Progress Board (OPB), a public body whose members are leaders of the community, business, and government, manages the benchmarking process.

This report examines and assesses the history of benchmarking for health by the OPB. Its authors are well qualified for their task. Jeffrey Tryens has been executive director of the OPB since 1995. Howard Leichter, professor of political science at Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon, has published books and articles about policy for health care and public health.

Leichter and Tryens emphasize changes in the mission and activities of the OPB that began in 1996, when Governor John Kitzhaber convened a task force to reassess the economic development project begun seven years earlier. This reassessment resulted in the reauthorization of the Board in 1997 and to an expansion of its responsibilities in 2001.

The authors describe both successes and failures of benchmarking in Oregon. Perhaps most important, they demonstrate that although benchmarking (or any other use of indicators) can bring health problems into better focus, it cannot cause problems to be solved. Indicators are tools that can be used to inform policy; they are not substitutes for the politics of policymaking.

Many people contributed to the preparation of this report through interviews and reviews of drafts. Their names are listed in the Acknowledgments. We are particularly grateful to Governor Kitzhaber and to Mark Gibson and Pam Curtis of his staff for their enthusiasm and support.

Daniel M. Fox
President

Samuel L. Milbank
Chairman