10 Surprising Facts about American Health Care

[formerexpat]

www.ncpa.org/pub/ba649

Fact No. 1: Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers.

Fact No. 2: Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians.

Fact No. 3: Americans have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries.

Fact No. 4: Americans have better access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians.
Nine of 10 middle-aged American women (89 percent) have had a mammogram, compared to less than three-fourths of Canadians (72 percent).
Nearly all American women (96 percent) have had a pap smear, compared to less than 90 percent of Canadians.
More than half of American men (54 percent) have had a PSA test, compared to less than 1 in 6 Canadians (16 percent).
Nearly one-third of Americans (30 percent) have had a colonoscopy, compared with less than 1 in 20 Canadians (5 percent).

Fact No. 5: Lower income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians.

Fact No. 6: Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada and the U.K.

Fact No. 7: People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed.

Fact No. 8: Americans are more satisfied with the care they receive than Canadians.

Fact No. 9: Americans have much better access to important new technologies like medical imaging than patients in Canada or the U.K.

Fact No. 10: Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations.

The top five U.S. hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other single developed country.[14] Since the mid-1970s, the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has gone to American residents more often than recipients from all other countries combined.[15] In only five of the past 34 years did a scientist living in America not win or share in the prize. Most important recent medical innovations were developed in the United States.[16] [See the table.]

Conclusion. Despite serious challenges, such as escalating costs and the uninsured, the U.S. health care system compares favorably to those in other developed countries.

Scott W. Atlas, M.D., is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor at the Stanford University Medical Center. A version of this article appeared previously in the February 18, 2009, Washington Times.

[vonnie6200]

Don't worry - Obamacare will fix all that

[lakhota]

Ranking 37th — Measuring the Performance of the U.S. Health Care System

healthpolicyandreform.nejm.org/?p=2610

www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html

[EVT1]

Mighty flawed conclusion- yet not a single point is in opposition to the recent reform bill or even a single payer model being implemented here. I expected more from a website with an agenda.

[handyman2]

I do not know about all the countries but have been in one facit of the business for 40 years I can tell you that the WHO figures have been skewed for some time. To say the UK, Costa Rica, Chile and Dominica has better care than the US is absurd. I am directly familier with all of them.

[formerexpat]

Ranking 37th — Measuring the Performance of the U.S. Health Care System

When inputs are faulty, so are outputs. I'm not surprised that the WHO came to the conclusion, given their political bias. Plain junk you've posted.

As an example of an input that is flawed - life expectancy. Excluding murders & deaths from car accidents, the US has the best life expectancy. WHO did not adjust for this statistic.

Another example is infant mortality. Some countries don't include premature infant deaths. The US includes everything. The WHO did not adjust for these statistical differences.

I expected more from a website with an agenda.

You're so used to liberal biased articles that a balanced article is a shock to you?

[EVT1]

'As an example of an input that is flawed - life expectancy. Excluding murders & deaths from car accidents, the US has the best life expectancy. WHO did not adjust for this statistic.

Another example is infant mortality. Some countries don't include premature infant deaths. The US includes everything. The WHO did not adjust for these statistical differences.'


All debunked a long time ago- old news.

It is not so hard to understand being #37- people dying because they have no insurance coverage or are dropped/denied when they need it most, or because they couldn't see a PCP and end up in the ER after it is too late, or because they can't afford their medications,etc. That kind of callous disregard for fellow citizens tends to bring down the average a bit.

BTW the WHO and its statisticians are a bit smarter than, say, Rush or Beck when it comes to analyzing data. If that doesn't do it for you try the CIA fact book. I admit it is hard for you to defend a turd so keep trying.