Comparisons between the U.S. health care system and health systems of other industrialized countries reveal striking differences in spending, availability and use of services, and health outcomes. This project will prepare a seventh paper in an annual series of analyses of key health data for the 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It will provide an update of overall trends in health systems' performance, with an emphasis on spending, coverage, hospital capacity and utilization, pharmaceutical costs, use of technology, trends in the supply and incomes of health professionals, and quality of care. In comparing health system data, the study will illustrate the impact of different national policies on system efficiency. Findings will be presented at the Fund's 2004 International Symposium on Health Care Policy and submitted to the journal Health Affairs for Web publication. An accompanying chartpack with core components from the OECD database will be posted on the Fund's website and updated annually. http://www.jhu.edu/