In Senate Testimony, Karen Davis Highlights Health Care Lessons from Abroad
<p>In her invited testimony today before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis detailed how the health care system in the United States lags behind several other industrialized nations--and how innovations in those countries offer options for improving heath care delivery in the U.S.<br><br>"The key question is how to achieve improved coverage and greater efficiency while maintaining or improving quality," Davis told the committee in her testimony, entitled "<a href="/cnlib/pub/enews_clickthrough.htm?enews_item_id=26172&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecmwf%2Eorg%2Fpublications%2Fpublications%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5Fid%3D441618%26%23doc441618">Learning From High Performance Health Systems Around the Globe</a>." "Other countries are achieving universal coverage, much lower spending per capita, and better health outcomes."<br><br>Davis highlighted successful innovations in Europe, including Denmark's system for providing after-hours care; Germany's hospital quality benchmarking; the Netherlands' use of nurse practitioners to help manage chronic disease; and the U.K.'s General Practitioner Contract. These examples "stand out as possibilities for the U.S. to consider," Davis said.<br><br>By "putting into action the best ideas and experiences across the U.S. and around the world," Davis concluded, "we can achieve a vision of American health care that includes: automatic and affordable health insurance for all, accessible care, patient-responsive care, information- and science-based care, and commitment to quality improvement."<br><br>Also check out two recent Commission Data Briefs, <a href="/cnlib/pub/enews_clickthrough.htm?enews_item_id=26173&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecmwf%2Eorg%2Fpublications%2Fpublications%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5Fid%3D440730%26%23doc440730">Health Care Opinion Leaders' Views on Priorities for the New Congress</a> and <a href="/cnlib/pub/enews_clickthrough.htm?enews_item_id=26174&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecmwf%2Eorg%2Fpublications%2Fpublications%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5Fid%3D424153%26%23doc424153">The National Committee for Quality Assurance's The State of Health Care Quality 2006</a>.</p>
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletters/ealerts/2007/jan/in-senate-testimony--karen-davis-highlights-health-care-lessons-from-abroad