Insufficient Quality for Our Health Care Dollar

If American consumers got consistently excellent outcomes and high patient satisfaction in return for our high health care spending, we might consider this spending to be a “good value.” However, when comparing outcomes in the U.S. to other industrialized countries, the evidence shows a mixed bag. The U.S. is doing relatively well in some areas—such as cancer care—and less well in others—such as mortality from treatable and preventable conditions.  

There are numerous aspects of health care quality that need to be addressed: 

• Disparities in outcomes, of which failure to address the social determinants of health is a major cause.

• Preventable Medical Harm 

• Aligning the priority quality objectives across payers and other stakeholders 

• Making quality transparent in a way that is actionable for consumers 

More on this Topic

• Glossary: Health Care Quality