Commonwealth Fund: U.S. Healthcare is Lagging Behind Other Countries

Use of care teams and systems to care for patients with chronic Illness. Teams that include health professionals, such as nurses, served an important role in managing care—especially for chronic conditions. The survey found that the use of teams was widespread in Sweden (98%), the U.K, (98%), the Netherlands (91%), Australia (88%), New Zealand (88%), Germany (73%), and Norway (73%). The use of teams was less frequent in the U.S. (59%), Canada (52%), and France (11%) based on physician reports.

Tracking medical errors. The study found that half or more primary care physicians in Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands report not yet having a process to identify "adverse events" and take action. About 20% of American primary care physicians said they have a process that works well to identify risks and take follow up actions, while a third said they have no process.

Financial incentives to improve quality. Every country in the survey used financial incentives to improve primary care, preventive care, or disease management. However, primary care physicians in the U.S. were among the least likely to report that they received financial incentives for quality improvement efforts, such as bonuses for achieving high patient satisfaction ratings or managing patients with chronic disease or complex needs.