A study commissioned by the Commonwealth Fund confirms for some the dire straits quality healthcare delivery finds itself in today in the United States on the cusp of a reform effort. While, superficially, results like this are designed to provoke an immediate response (like from those on par with the Michael Moores of the world) — I find that the greatest asset findings like this can generate is creation of tough questions when one is forced to take a look at key quality indicators that reform will impact over the next decade.

On quality, the U.S. stood out “particularly with symptoms of more fragmented, poorly coordinated care,” Schoen said. In 2008, for instance, 14% of American adults with a chronic condition reported receiving the wrong medicine or the wrong drug dose in the past two years.

When compared to, say, Sweden or any other European country — an interesting stat. But getting out of the apples-and-oranges mentality allows us to see nuggets like this in a more sobering light. When placed in the context of Obama’s reform plight, it signals a call for urgency in healthcare delivery. | LINK

Related Posts Within Doctor Pundit:

1. CMS Chief Gets Hands Dirty, Rolls Out Obama Admin’s Quality Reform Plans Ten years. Ten billion dollars. That is the level of...
2. MN Health Plan Set to Release Crucial Quality Data on Its Physicians The planned rollout for quality scores and transparent data from...
3. Study: Comparative Data on Pharma Products Lacking from Previous Decade Comparative effectiveness research — the direct comparison of care interventions to determine...
4. Report: Obama’s Hopes for Reform on Global Scale Falls Short on Initial Goals Many armchair health policy watchers are fully aware of President...
5. Debt Ceiling Deal Rattles Healthcare Delivery Prospects, Social Security and Medicaid Spared The initial spin on the recently squared away budget deal...