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Measuring the U.S. Healthcare System: A Cross-National Comparison

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Topics: Access/Barriers | Cost-effectiveness | Quality | Spending

On June 29, the Commonwealth Fund released a brief examining data on health spending in 30 industrialized nations collected by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).  The brief found that, in 2008, U.S. residents had fewer hospital and doctor visits than did residents of most other countries but that U.S. residents had the highest spending per hospital visit, at $17,126.  The Netherlands had the next highest spending per visit at $11,522.  The authors also found that the U.S. is in the bottom quartile of the OECD nations for life expectancy and that the U.S. has seen the smallest improvement in that measure over the past twenty years.

From the report:

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) tracks and reports annually on more than 1,200 health system measures across 30 industrialized countries, ranging from population health status and nonmedical determinants of health to health care resources and utilization. Based on analysis of OECD health data from 2008, the United States continues to differ markedly from other countries on a number of health system measures. The U.S. has a comparatively low number of hospital beds and physicians per capita, and patients in the U.S. have fewer hospital and physician visits than most other countries. At the same time, spending per hospital visit is highest in the U.S., and American patients are among the most likely to receive procedures requiring complex technology. The nation now ranks in the bottom quartile in life expectancy among OECD countries and has seen the smallest improvement in this metric over the past 20 years.

Full report: Measuring the US Healthcare System: A Cross-National Comparison (PDF | 600 KB) exit disclaimer small icon

The Commonwealth Fund. (2010). Measuring the US Healthcare system: a cross-national comparison. Anderson, G.F. and Squires, D.A.


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