Search Open Houses Buyer's Rebate Sell for 2% Sell for $3,500 Statistics Help Tools Saved Searches Testimonials Blog Contact

Oahu Real Estate Logo

20% Rebate for Buyers
$3,500 Flat Fee for Sellers
2% Full Service for Sellers

Question: How is the healthcare in Oahu? Will I need to fly back to the mainland for things?

Answer:

Oahu has the most number of hospitals in Hawaii and probably has the best access to health and hospital care in the state, considering the number of hospitals available. At the time of writing, there are 3 hospitals in Maui, 1 in Kauai, and 3 in the big island of Hawai'i, compared to 10 in Oahu alone.

Historically, Hawaii became the first state to require employers to provide employee health benefits. And now, Hawaiians are some of the healthiest in America, and the state's healthcare costs are among the lowest in the country.

Hawaii is currently 5th overall in the state health system ranking (out of 51). A specific example to illustrate this: nearly 99% of cancer center patients at Queen's Medical Center have health coverage, which is rare in most urban medical centers on the mainland.

Several hospitals in Oahu have received a Gold ranking for stroke care, for example, such as Kailua’s Castle Medical Center and Pali Momi Medical Center in Aiea, meaning these hospitals follow treatment guidelines at least 85 percent of the time and have maintained standards for 12 consecutive months. While Pali Momi Medical Center and The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu earned a Gold Plus ranking—which honors an additional 75 percent compliance with module specific quality measures.

So if it's for typical hospital care, there is no need to fly back to the mainland. 

Here is some data compiling Queen's Medical Center's patient ratings, and see how it compares to state and national scores:

Hospital Ratings: Patient Experiences

This Hospital

State Average

National Average

Patients who said their nurses "Always" communicated well

74

70

76

Patients who said their doctors "Always" communicated well

79

77

80

Patients who said they "Always" received help as soon as desired

59

57

64

Patients who said their pain was "Always" well controlled

68

64

69

Patients who said staff "Always" explained medicines before administering

59

58

60

Patients who said their room and bathroom were "Always" cleans

67

69

71

Patients who said the area around their room was "Always" quiet at night

50

51

58

Patients who said they were told what to do during their recovery at home

20

22

81

Patients who rated the hospital a 9 or 10 on a scale from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest)

75

59

67

Patients who said they would definitely recommend the hospital

81

63

69

Hospital Ratings: Medical Imaging

This Hospital

State Average

National Average

Outpatients with low back pain who had an MRI without trying recommended treatments first, such as physical therapy. (If a number is high, it may mean the facility is doing too many unnecessary MRIs for low back pain.)

27

30

33

Outpatients who had a follow-up mammogram or ultrasound within 45 days after a screening mammogram. (A number that is much lower than 8% may mean there's not enough follow-up. A number much higher than 14% may mean there's too much unnecessary follow-up.)

5

9

8

Outpatient CT scans of the chest that were "combination" (double) scans. (The range for this measure is 0 to 1. A number very close to 1 may mean that too many patients are being given a double scan when a single scan is sufficient.)

0.003

0.012

0.054

Outpatient CT scans of the abdomen that were "combination" (double) scans. (The range for this measure is 0 to 1. A number very close to 1 may mean that too many patients are being given a double scan when a single scan is sufficient.)

0.09

0.114

0.191

Hospital Ratings: Care Results

This Hospital

State Average

National Average

Death Rate for Heart Attack Patients

11.6

13.283

16.2

Death Rate for Heart Failure Patients

9.8

8.808

11.2

Death Rate for Pneumonia Patients

7.9

9.431

11.6

Hospital Ratings: Readmission Rates

This Hospital

State Average

National Average

Rate of Readmission for Heart Attack Patients

16.6

16.64

19.9

Rate of Readmission for Heart Failure Patients

20.4

20.892

24.7

Rate of Readmission for Pneumonia Patients

14.8

14.45

18.3

Hospital Ratings: Process of Care

This Hospital

State Average

National Average

Outpatients having surgery who got an antibiotic within one hour before surgery (higher numbers are better)

98

8

92

Outpatients having surgery who got the right kind of antibiotic (higher numbers are better)

99

154

94

Surgery patients who were taking heart drugs called beta blockers before coming to the hospital, who were kept on the beta blockers during the period just before and after their surgery

89

N/A

92

Surgery patients who were given an antibiotic within one hour before surgery to help prevent infection

98

97

96

Surgery patients who were given the right kind of antibiotic to help prevent infection

98

98

97

Surgery patients whose preventive antibiotics were stopped within 24 hours after surgery

92

90

94

Heart surgery patients whose blood sugar is kept under good control in the days right after surgery

95

89

93

Surgery patients needing hair removed from the surgical area before surgery, who had hair removed using a safe method

100

99

99

Surgery patients whose urinary catheters were removed on the first or second day after surgery

93

90

N/A

Surgery patients whose doctors ordered treatments to prevent blood clots after certain types of surgeries

98

87

94

Patients who got treatment within 24 hours before or after their surgery to help prevent blood clots after certain types of surgery

97

85

92

Hospital Ratings: Heart Attack & Chest Pain Care

This Hospital

State Average

National Average

Average number of minutes before outpatients with chest pain or possible heart attack who needed specialized care were transferred to another hospital (a lower number of minutes is better)

N/A

154

62

Average number of minutes before outpatients with chest pain or possible heart attack got an ECG (a lower number of minutes is better)

N/A

8

9

Outpatients with chest pain or possible heart attack who got drugs to break up blood clots within 30 minutes of arrival (higher numbers are better)

N/A

58

54

Outpatients with chest pain or possible heart attack who got aspirin within 24 hours of arrival (higher numbers are better)

N/A

96

95

Heart Attack Patients Given Aspirin at Arrival

100

98

98

Heart Attack Patients Given Aspirin at Discharge

100

97

98

Heart Attack Patients Given ACE Inhibitor or ARB for Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction (LVSD)

98

92

96

Heart Attack Patients Given Smoking Cessation Advice/Counseling

99

98

99

Heart Attack Patients Given Beta Blocker at Discharge

99

98

98

Heart Attack Patients Given Fibrinolytic Medication Within 30 Minutes Of Arrival

N/A

33

54

Heart Attack Patients Given PCI Within 90 Minutes Of Arrival

92

81

89

Hospital Ratings: Heart Failure Care

This Hospital

State Average

National Average

Heart Failure Patients Given Discharge Instructions

93

84

87

Heart Failure Patients Given an Evaluation of Left Ventricular Systolic (LVS) Function

100

96

98

Heart Failure Patients Given ACE Inhibitor or ARB for Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction (LVSD)

100

94

94

Heart Failure Patients Given Smoking Cessation Advice/Counseling

99

97

98

Hospital Ratings: Pneumonia Care

This Hospital

State Average

National Average

Pneumonia Patients Assessed and Given Pneumococcal Vaccination

84

85

92

Pneumonia Patients Whose Initial Emergency Room Blood Culture Was Performed Prior To The Administration Of The First Hospital Dose Of Antibiotics

91

94

95

Pneumonia Patients Given Smoking Cessation Advice/Counseling

100

95

97

Pneumonia Patients Given Initial Antibiotic(s) within 6 Hours After Arrival

95

97

95

Pneumonia Patients Given the Most Appropriate Initial Antibiotic(s)

94

90

91

 

Sources:

https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-healthcare-coverage-20140406-dto-htmlstory.html

https://www.hawaiibusiness.com/Hawaii-Business/April-2012/How-Healthy-is-Healthcare-in-Hawaii/

https://www.thirdage.com/d/h/hawaii-hospitals

https://datacenter.commonwealthfund.org