International study ranks nations’ healthcare systems
An ongoing comparative study of nations’ health systems by the Commonwealth Fund Health Policy Think Tank has been updated to reflect new developments in areas including the implementation of healthcare information technology.
The report, titled ‘Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: An International Update on the Comparative Performance of American Health Care’, compared the healthcare systems of the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Canada, looking at quality, access, efficiency, equity, outcomes, healthy lifestyles, coordination of care and IT.
The United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand were found to have continued their superior performance in most measures, and are now joined by Germany, which previously ranked lower. The United States and Canada remain at the bottom of the list, with the US healthcare system performing worst overall.
The Shadow Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon, pointed out that the report highlighted high out-of-pocket costs in Australia. Almost three times as many Australians have gone without health care because of cost, as people in the UK. And almost twice as many Australians as British people have avoided going to the dentist when they needed to – because they couldn’t afford it, Ms Roxon said.
