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Pediatrics News
Article Date: 25 Sep 2006 - 23:00pm (PDT)
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The U.S. has the highest infant mortality rate and
lowest life expectancy rate for residents older than
age 60 among almost two dozen industrialized nations
worldwide, according to a report published Wednesday
on the Web site of the journal
Health Affairs,
Gannett/Hattiesburg American
reports (Wheeler,
Gannett/
Hattiesburg
American, 9/20). For the report, researchers
for the Commission on a High Performance Health
System at the
Commonwealth Fund examined 37 indicators of
health outcomes, quality, access, equity and
efficiency developed by the
Institute of Medicine,
HHS,
the
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the
National Committee for Quality Assurance and
other experts. According to the report, the U.S.
overall scored an average of 66 out of a possible
100 on the health indicators and did not score
highest on any of the indicators (Carey,
CQ
HealthBeat, 9/20). The report finds that the
U.S. spends twice as much on health care as other
industrialized nations in relation to gross domestic
product. In addition, the report finds that 61
million U.S. residents lacked health insurance or
did not have adequate coverage in 2003 (Young,
Bloomberg/Miami Herald,
9/21). The report also finds:
- One-third of U.S. patients
reported a medical, medication or laboratory
error in the past two years;
- Almost one-fourth of U.S.
adults reported that they had to wait at least
six days before they received health care (Gannett/Hattiesburg
American, 9/20);
- Only 17% of U.S. physicians
use electronic health records, which can prevent
medical errors; and
- About 115 per 100,000 deaths
in the U.S. are preventable with proper health
care, compared with 75 in France and 81 in Japan
(Bloomberg/Miami Herald, 9/21).
The report states, "If we closed just those gaps
that are described in the Scorecard, we could save
at least $50 billion to $100 billion per year in
health care spending and prevent 100,000 to 150,000
deaths," adding, "Moreover, the nation would gain
from improved productivity" (Fox,
Reuters,
9/20). Cathy Schoen, senior vice president for
research at the Commonwealth Fund, said, "We have
lives at stake. We should expect higher value in
return" for health care spending (
Bloomberg/Miami
Herald, 9/21).
An abstract of the report is available
online.
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