|
|
New Seven-Nation Study Ranks U.S. Last on
Health System Performance
Despite having the most expensive health care system,
the United States ranks
last in overall performance compared with six other industrialized countries—Australia, Canada,
Germany, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, and the United Kingdom—a new Commonwealth
Fund report finds.
The study's authors, who compared performance on measures of quality,
efficiency, access to care, equity, and the ability to lead healthy and
productive lives, found that while each country has room for improvement, the
U.S. stands out for not getting good value for its health care dollars. Per
capita health care spending in the U.S.
was $7,290 in 2007, compared with $3,837 in the Netherlands, which ranked first
in overall performance.
"It is disappointing, but not surprising that, despite our significant
investment in health care, the U.S. continues to lag behind
other countries," said Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis, the
report's lead author. "With enactment of the Affordable Care Act,
however, we will begin strengthening primary care and investing in health
information technology and quality improvement, ensuring that all Americans
can obtain access to high quality, efficient health care."
Visitors to commonwealthfund.org can use an interactive Web tool to view side-by-side comparisons of
country rankings and raw scores on individual performance indicators.
Other New
International Resources
- Health
Care Abroad and Reform at Home: The latest podcast from the Fund's
"New Directions in Health Care" series examines the costs of
providing medical services in other parts of the world and considers how
health care reform might change the bottom line in this country.
- International
Profiles of Health Care Systems: These overviews, covering
Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.S., provide
detailed information for each nation on health insurance coverage and
benefits, health system financing, delivery system organization, quality
assurance mechanisms, efforts to improve efficiency and control costs,
and recent innovations and reforms.
Also, be sure to visit the
new International
Health Policy Center on commonwealthfund.org to use our interactive
data tool for comparing health system performance by country and to download
Fund publications, podcasts, and PowerPoint charts.
|
|
Mirror, Mirror on
the Wall: How the Performance of the U.S. Health Care System Compares
Internationally, 2010 Update
Karen Davis, Ph.D., Cathy Schoen, M.S., and Kristof Stremikis, M.P.P.
June 23, 2010
Read more »
International
Profiles of Health Care Systems: Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France,
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland,
and the United States
David Squires, The Commonwealth Fund, and others.
June 23, 2010
Read more »
|
