In the fifth John M. Eisenberg International Lecture, Hans F. Hoogervorst, Minister of Health, Welfare, and Sport for the Netherlands, described reforms undertaken in his nation to create a more efficient, patient-centered, and sustainable health care system. Under the Dutch system, insurance coverage is mandatory, insurers are obliged to accept everybody, and strong market incentives foster competition among insurers, which in turn pressure health care providers to deliver high-quality, high-value patient services.

Another highlight of the symposium was the presentation of findings from the 2006 International Health Policy Survey by Cathy Schoen, Fund senior vice president, and Robin Osborn, vice president and International Program director. The survey captured the perspectives of primary care physicians in Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the U.K., the U.S., and, for the first time, the Netherlands. According to Schoen and Osborn, primary care doctors in the U.S. are less likely than those in most other countries surveyed to be able to offer patients access to care outside regular office hours, or to have systems alerting them to unintended drug interactions that could potentially harm their patients. U.S. primary care physicians are also less likely to receive financial incentives for improving patient care.