Health Care System Falls Short of Objectives, Scorecard Reveals

The National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2011 shows that the U.S. health care system continues to fall short of attainable objectives. In a comparison of national rates with domestic and international benchmarks, the system achieved a total score of 64 out of a possible 100. Performance on indicators of health system efficiency was especially low, with the U.S. scoring 53 out of 100 on measures that gauge the level of inappropriate, wasteful, or fragmented care; avoidable hospitalizations; variation in quality and costs; administrative costs; and use of information technology. The National Scorecard is produced annually by The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation in New York City. Its authors note that lack of year-over-year improvement on many health system indicators—such as preventive care and hospital readmissions—likely stems from the nation's “weak primary care foundation” , as well as from inadequate care coordination and teamwork across sites of care and between providers. Read the overview and executive summary.