Measuring Up: A Comprehensive Scorecard for America’s Health System

A new assessment by The Commonwealth Fund finds that deficiencies in the nation’s health care system cost 100,000 to 150,000 lives and $50 to $100 billion annually. The scorecard compares national averages for the U.S. to national and international benchmarks for 37 indicators. The U.S. received a composite score of 66 out of 100. On one quality measure, mortality, the U.S. ranked 14th out of 19 countries.

In what ways is the U.S. health system thriving and failing? What actions can be taken to improve the performance of our health system?

To discuss these and related questions, Commonwealth and the Alliance for Health Reform  sponsored an October 11 luncheon briefing. Panelists included: Chris Cassel, American Board of Internal Medicine; Cathy Schoen, The Commonwealth Fund; Tom Miller, American Enterprise Institute; Elizabeth Hall, Office of Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist, MD; Mike Zamore, Office of Rep. Patrick Kennedy. Ed Howard of the Alliance and Steve Schoenbaum of Commonwealth was the moderator.

Transcript

Full Transcript (Adobe Acrobat PDF)

Speaker Presentations

Cassel Presentation (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Schoen Presentation (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Miller Presentation (Adobe Acrobat PDF)