The U.S. health system is on the wrong track, say researchers monitoring our national health system performance.
Quality of care is highly variable, and opportunities are routinely missed to prevent disease, disability, hospitalization, and mortality, according to the National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance 2008 by The Commonwealth Fund.
In fact, across 37 indicators of performance, the U.S. achieves an overall score of 65 out of a possible 100, researchers said.
Despite the bleak news, the study suggests much can be done to turn things around:
The 2008 National Scorecard documents the human and economic costs of failing to address the problems in our health system. Recent analysis suggests it could be possible to insure everyone and achieve significant savings with improved value over the next decade. Health care expenditures are projected to double to $4 trillion, or 20 percent of national income, over the next decade, and millions more U.S. residents are on a path to becoming uninsured or underinsured, absent new policies. We need to change directions, starting with the recognition that access to care, health care quality, and efficiency are interrelated.
As many physicians and health care administrators here in Wichita already know, change isn’t easy and will require a collaborative effort among every stakeholder.
Suggestions on where to start?