Posted by Michael Wonder on 07 Sep 2017
From last to first - could the U.S. health care system become the best in the world?
7 September 2017 - Many Americans believe that the United States has the best health care system in the world, but surprisingly little evidence supports that belief.
On the contrary, since 2004, reports from the Commonwealth Fund have consistently ranked the performance of the U.S. health care system last among high-income countries, despite the fact that we spend far more on health care than these other countries.
These reports — based on recent Commonwealth Fund surveys of primary care doctors and the general population, as well as data on health outcomes gathered by international organisations — reveal several reasons why, despite offering some of the most specialised, technically advanced treatments in the world, U.S. health care fails to achieve the level of performance of the health care systems of other high-income countries. An understanding of these reasons may point the way to essential improvements.
