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* As of 2000 (the latest report with country ranking) the WHO rates America #37 in overall effectiveness in healthcare, whereas Germany is #25 (#1 is France, wh

by m0th87 17y ago

* As of 2000 (the latest report with country ranking) the WHO rates America #37 in overall effectiveness in healthcare, whereas Germany is #25 (#1 is France, which also has universal coverage): http://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/ http://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/ * According to the CIA world factbook, we're ranked #35 in life expectancy, Germany #23: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expec... * Again according to the CIA world factbook, the US is ranked #46 in lowest infant mortality rate, Germany #15: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mor... In terms of production, as well as in spending, Germany kicks our butt (as does the UK, France, etc.) If we can reduce costs and at the same time get free spa visits, I'm all for it!

yummyfajitas 17y ago
The WHO rankings do not measure effectiveness in health care. They measure a weighted average of many factors, most of which are unrelated to health care effectiveness: 25% health 25% health equality 12.5% responsiveness 12.5% responsiveness equality 25% financial equality Near as I can tell, only 12.5% of the score (responsiveness) is directly related to health care effectiveness. Remarkable fact: an improvement in health care can actually lower a score if it is unequally distributed (e.g., half the country gets better health care at higher cost, half the country stays the same).
- m0th87 17y ago
  Outlining the factors without showing how they are measured is misleading. According to the WHO, the HSP (health system performance) is measured via: * measuring the health system's contribution to socially desirable goals; * measuring the health system and non-health system resources used to achieve these outcomes; * estimating the efficiency with which the resources are used to attain these outcomes; * evaluating the way the functions of the system influence observed levels of attainment and efficiency; * designing and implementing policies to improve attainment and efficiency and monitoring the effect. Check out http://www.who.int/health-systems-performance/about.htm http://www.who.int/health-systems-performance/about.htm This is more or less directly concerned with measuring the performance of healthcare systems. It would, however, be completely fair to argue how effective this measure is, as it's very difficult to try to quantify something as complex as healthcare. That's why the WHO stopped making this index in 2000 apparently.
  - yummyfajitas 17y ago
    How have I mislead anyone? I simply described the components that make up the index. Since you seem to think I'm being misleading, I'll explain exactly how one is measured. Financial equality is given as: const x sum([pow(abs(marginal_cost(p) - average_marginal_cost),3) for p in people]) Does the specific formula used change the fact that financial fairness (25% of the index) is not health care effectiveness? The index simply does not measure the effectiveness of health care systems. At best, health care effectiveness is only one component of a broader index.

by m0th87 17y ago

yummyfajitas 17y ago

The WHO rankings do not measure effectiveness in health care. They measure a weighted average of many factors, most of which are unrelated to health care effectiveness: 25% health 25% health equality 12.5% responsiveness 12.5% responsiveness equality 25% financial equality Near as I can tell, only 12.5% of the score (responsiveness) is directly related to health care effectiveness. Remarkable fact: an improvement in health care can actually lower a score if it is unequally distributed (e.g., half the country gets better health care at higher cost, half the country stays the same).

m0th87 17y ago
Outlining the factors without showing how they are measured is misleading. According to the WHO, the HSP (health system performance) is measured via: * measuring the health system's contribution to socially desirable goals; * measuring the health system and non-health system resources used to achieve these outcomes; * estimating the efficiency with which the resources are used to attain these outcomes; * evaluating the way the functions of the system influence observed levels of attainment and efficiency; * designing and implementing policies to improve attainment and efficiency and monitoring the effect. Check out http://www.who.int/health-systems-performance/about.htm http://www.who.int/health-systems-performance/about.htm This is more or less directly concerned with measuring the performance of healthcare systems. It would, however, be completely fair to argue how effective this measure is, as it's very difficult to try to quantify something as complex as healthcare. That's why the WHO stopped making this index in 2000 apparently.
- yummyfajitas 17y ago
  How have I mislead anyone? I simply described the components that make up the index. Since you seem to think I'm being misleading, I'll explain exactly how one is measured. Financial equality is given as: const x sum([pow(abs(marginal_cost(p) - average_marginal_cost),3) for p in people]) Does the specific formula used change the fact that financial fairness (25% of the index) is not health care effectiveness? The index simply does not measure the effectiveness of health care systems. At best, health care effectiveness is only one component of a broader index.