The Truth Is Out There

Was that not a line which we saw with every “X Files” episode in the Nineties?

Remember the “Flashback Quarterback” from the previous issue of E-News, about getting together to decide about health care?  An important part of getting together and deciding is having the facts.  The following can help.

“No Recent Improvement in U.S. Healthcare System Performance, Study Find”

Despite spending more on health care than any other industrialized nation, the United States continues to fall short on key indicators of health outcomes and quality, particularly in the areas of access and efficiency, a new report from the Commonwealth Fund,  http://www.commonwealthfund.org/, finds. Prepared by the fund's Commission on a High Performance Health System, the report, Why Not The Best? Results From The National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2008, found that the United States scored an average of 65 out of a possible 100 across thirty-seven key indicators of health outcomes, quality, access, efficiency, and equity -- slightly below its overall performance on the 2006 scorecard. Perhaps most troubling, the study found that 42 percent of all working-age adults were either uninsured or underinsured as of 2007 -- up from 35 per-cent in 2003. According to the report, the U.S. could save up to 100,000 lives and $100 billion annually by improving its performance in key areas. On a more positive note, the report found that national initiatives focused on specific areas have yielded substantial improvement. In the wake of broad public and private efforts to assess and improve hospital safety, for example, hospital standardized mortality ratios -- a key indicator of patient safety --improved 19 percent over five years. Improvements were also noted in the areas of chronic care and acute hospital care quality, both of which have been the focus of reporting and pay-for-performance initiatives. …

As excerpted from RFP Bulletin, July 25, 2008, by the Foundation Center .

If you answer the multiple-choice questions below and e-mail to lessonanswers@mymontebello.com with “Lesson answers” in the subject field, you will be credited toward a “certificate of recognition in community affairs” to be awarded in 2008 by a local nonprofit organization.

1. What startling statistic does a 2008 report from the Commonwealth Fund give us?

(a) Forty-two percent of all working-age adults in America were either uninsured or underinsured as of 2007.

(b) The death rate of newborn infants in the United States is the highest in the industrialized world.

2. Where has the United States improved?

(a) The cost of health care has gone down.

(b) Hospital safety has increased, evidenced by a decrease in “hospital standardized mortality ratios”.

October 16, 2008