The U.S. struggles with poor health outcomes and equity despite its highest-ever healthcare spending, while top performers like Australia and the Netherlands offer valuable lessons on access, affordability, and efficiency.
Report: Mirror, Mirror 2024: A Portrait of the Failing U.S. Health System - Comparing Performance in 10 Nations A recent report by The Commonwealth Fund compared the health system performance in 10 countries.
“ Mirror, Mirror 2024 ” is the eighth report of the Commonwealth Fund comparing health system performance in select nations. The goal has been to highlight lessons from the experiences of these countries, with emphasis on how they may inform the improvement of the United States (U.S.
) health system. Although health systems are unique by country, comparisons offer insights into policy thinking and illustrate the impact of national policy choices on a nation’s health and well-being. This edition also introduces new metrics on telehealth usage and discrimination in healthcare, further expanding its analysis.
The study and findings The present study compared the health systems in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the U.K., and the U.
S. Overall, 70 unique measures were assessed across five domains – care process, access to care, equity, health outcomes, and administrative efficiency. The study utilized a combination of survey data from 2021–2023, collected from patients and primary care physicia.