Posting date: November 3, 2005

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Health Affairs, 10.1377/hlthaff.w5.509
Copyright © 2005 by Project HOPE

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Taking The Pulse Of Health Care Systems: Experiences Of Patients With Health Problems In Six Countries

¹ Cathy Schoen is senior vice president, Research and Evaluation, at the Commonwealth Fund in New York City.
² Robin Osborn is vice president, International Health Policy and Practice.
³ Phuong Trang Huynh is associate director, International Health Policy and Practice.
⁴ Michelle Doty is a senior analyst, also at the Commonwealth Fund.
⁵ Kinga Zapert is a vice president at Harris Interactive in New York City.
⁶ Jordon Peugh is senior research manager at Harris Interactive in New York City.
⁷ Karen Davis is president of the Commonwealth Fund.

^*Corresponding author.

Abstract

This paper reports on a 2005 survey of sicker adults in Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Sizable shares of patients in all six countries report safety risks, poor care coordination, and deficiencies in care for chronic conditions. Majorities in all countries report that mistakes occurred outside the hospital. The United States often stands out for inefficient care and errors and is an outlier on access/cost barriers. Yet no country consistently leads or lags across survey domains. Deficiencies in transition care during hospital discharge and coordination failures among patients seeing multiple physicians underscore shared challenges of improving performance across sites of care.

Key Words: Access To Care, Business Of Health, Chronic Care, Consumer Issues, Health Reform, International Issues, Quality Of Care, Health Spending, Insurance Market

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