Clinical Scorecard: How Does the Quality of the U.S. Health System Compare to Other Countries?
At a Glance
Category
Detail
Condition
Comparative health system quality and performance
Key Mechanisms
Comparison of health outcomes, treatment outcomes, patient safety, health system capacity, and per-capita healthcare spending across the United States and similarly large, wealthy nations.
Target Population
U.S. residents and populations in peer nations represented in the comparisons.
Care Setting
Health system-level assessment using cross-national indicators and an online performance-monitoring hub.
Key Highlights
U.S. per-capita healthcare spending is nearly double that of comparable wealthy nations.
U.S. life expectancy is lower than in peer countries.
The United States fares worse on selected measures including maternal mortality, congestive heart failure hospital admissions, obstetric trauma with instrument, and the rate of general practitioners.
U.S. performance is similar to or better than peer nations for mortality within 30 days after acute hospital treatment and some post-operative complication measures.
Guideline-Based Recommendations
Diagnosis
Management
Monitoring & Follow-up
The Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker provides online monitoring and assessment of U.S. health system performance.
Risks
Patient & Prescribing Data
Not applicable; the article compares national health system indicators rather than individual patient groups.
No prescribing or treatment recommendations are provided.
