U.S. Health Care vs The World

The United States spends 54 percent more on health care per person than most other developed nations spend. With this level of cost, you would expect that the United States would also lead the world in terms of health care quality. However, in many areas of health service availability and accessibility, the United States falls behind countries like Germany, Australia and France. For every 1,000 Americans, there are 2.5 practicing physicians compared to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 3.2. This difference may seem small. But when we start considering 10,000, 100,000 or 300 million Americans, that difference adds up. With growing health care costs and a growing domestic population, will the health workforce be able to keep up?
While there are limited numbers of physicians in general, there is an even greater shortage of those specializing in women’s health. Only about 5 percent of the physicians in the United States focus on obstetrics and gynecology. Many women in rural areas and underserved communities may not have access to actively practicing physicians trained in these specialties. Women in rural areas have a greater risk of poor health outcomes compared to women living in urban environments due to inequality of access. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), “The physician shortage in rural areas, limited resources at small community hospitals, and patient factors such as lack of insuran...

Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 22, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Access Women's Health Source Type: blogs