Reference no: EM131649650

Problem

From a financial standpoint, the U.S could probably gain from adopting measures that other countries are employing to provide healthcare to their populations. In 2015, the United States spent almost three times on healthcare as the average of other countries with comparable incomes (Etehad & Kim, 2017). The reason for this is that the technology that we use is very expensive and the cost of services, medications are very high and so are administrative costs. Governments in other countries remove some of the high administrative costs, try to control expensive technology, and at the same time, are adding more primary care physicians and less specialists to the mix. They also try to offer more hospital beds per patients (the U.S. reports 2.8 beds per 1,000 patients) More beds equal more services, which is good for the bottom line, but more beds can also lead to lower quality. If there are just too many patients for the clinic or hospital to treat accordingly or they are trying to provide care beyond their capacity (Providers, etc..) than quality suffers, which could lead to an increase in mistakes or malpractice claims.

Etehad, M and Kim, K. (2017). The U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country - but not with better health outcomes, LA Times.

Fuchs, V. (2014). Why Do Other Rich Nations Spend So Much Less on Healthcare?