July 14, 2014 Industry news
An American study into 11 Western nations and the quality of the healthcare they provide has placed Britain top of the list, with the U.S. coming in last place.
Countries included in the study were: Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the U.S., and Canada.
The U.S. was placed bottom of the rankings – a position it has occupied in the four other editions of the report published since 2004.
The Commonwealth Fund used data from its own national health system scorecard from 2011, alongside information from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Additionally, it used policy surveys of primary care physicians and patients, who offered their own views on their nations’ health systems between 2011 and 2013.
The report stated that the UK “outperforms” all other countries when it comes to managing chronic illnesses. It highlighted the use of health information technology, or HIT, as a contributing factor in Britain’s high score.
Further, Britain was found to be a joint leader – alongside neighbour Germany - in terms of patient communication; people from both countries said they either often or always got an understandable, clear and fast response from their GP.
The UK likewise excelled in the area of public feedback, with 8 out of 10 physicians saying they held patient satisfaction data; this compared to just 6 out of 10 over in America, placing the U.S. third in this category.