. . .is simple to state: America does not provide the highest quality medical care. . .

• The United States has a higher rate of medical mistakes, medication errors, or lab errors than Canada; Australia; New Zealand; Germany; and the United Kingdom.¹
  


• The Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimated that there are at least 1.5 million preventable adverse drug events in the U.S. every year. ²
  


• It is estimated that unnecessary care or "overtreatment" kills 30,000 Americans a year-the equivalent of a 747 airliner crashing and killing everyone aboard once a week.³
  


• The U.S. ranks last among 19 industrialized nations in deaths before age 75 that are potentially preventable with timely and effective health care (2008).⁴
  


• On average, Americans receive about half of recommended medical care processes.⁵
  


• U.S. patients reporting that medical records and test results were not available during a visit or that tests were duplicated unnecessarily was 30% higher than patients reporting in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom (2006).⁶

Yet the cost of our care is the highest in the world:

• America leads the world in health care spending.⁷
  
  • America spends more dollars per capita on health care then Germany, Canada, France, Australia, the United Kingdom.
  • American spends more on health care as a total percent of our gross domestic product (GDP) than these countries

1. Data: Analysis of 2005 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey of Sicker Adults; Schoen et al. 2005a. Source: Commonwealth Fund National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2006

2. Preventing Medication Error, Institute of Medicine, July 2006 report.

3. Overtreated by Shannon Brownlee, Bloomsbury, 2007.

4. In "Measuring the Health of Nations: Updating an Earlier Analysis", Ellen Nolte, Ph.D., and C. Martin McKee, M.D., D.Sc., Health Affairs, Jan./Feb. 2008.

5. .“The Quality of Health Care Delivered to Adults in the United States,” Elizabeth A. McGlynn, Ph.D., Steven M. Asch, M.D., M.P.H., John Adams, Ph.D., Joan Keesey, B.A., Jennifer Hicks, M.P.H., Ph.D., Alison DeCristofaro, M.P.H., and Eve A. Kerr, M.D., M.P.H., New England Journal of Medicine, June 2003.

6. “In Chronic Condition: Experiences of Patients with Complex Health Care Needs, in Eight Countries, 2008: Chronically ill U.S. patients have the most negative access, coordination, and safety experiences.” by Cathy Schoen, Robin Osborn, Sabrina K.H. How, Michelle M. Doty, and Jordon Peugh, Health Affairs, Nov. 13, 2008.

7. Data: OECD Health Data 2005 and 2006. Commonwealth Fund National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2006.

“Obama Visits Clinic Known for Quality Care, Controlling Costs,” by David Brown, The Washington Post, July 23, 2009

The Post takes a more in-depth look at The Cleveland Clinic, a CAPP medical group, that was touted by President Obama as a model of health care efficiency and quality.

See full story

“Yes, models for cost-efficient health care do exist,” by Jim Landers, The Dallas Morning News, July 28, 2009

CAPP group Scott & White is featured in this article that reviews some of the Dartmouth findings on organizations that can curb health care costs.

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“Atul Gawande: The Cost Conundrum Redux,” by Atul Gawande, The New Yorker, June 23, 2009.

Gawande responds to the skeptics of his highly publicized New Yorker article.

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“The Cost Conundrum: What a Texas town can teach us about health care,” by Atul Gawande, The New Yorker, June 01, 2009

See full story

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