The United States healthcare system is falling down around us. Healthcare costs are rapidly rising while patient satisfaction and overall patient health is declining. One would like to think that the United States of America would be one of the top ten countries in the world for healthcare, maybe even the top three. However, according to the World Health Report for the year 2000, the United States is number 31 out of the 191 member states analyzed for quality of healthcare systems (World Health Organization). One of the causes of this alarming state is the heavy emphasis on the fee-for-service (FFS) model of reimbursing healthcare providers. This model is quantity based. The payment of a healthcare provider stems from the sheer number of patients …show more content…
The average spending per capita in other developed countries is $3,000 per year; in the U.S., it is $8,000 per year (Froemke and Heineman). That is almost three times as much as any other country in the world. As stated previously, The World Health Report ranked our country as number 31 in the world for quality of healthcare. However, that same report also ranked the U.S. as number one in the world for amount of expenditure per capita on healthcare. The rankings are based on each countries’ overall health (life expectancies), responsiveness (speed of service, privacy protection, quality of care), and fair financial contribution. The typical American response to improve something is to spend excessive amounts of money and obtain all of the latest technology. While being wealthy and having excellent technology is helpful, it is not the primary solution. The content of The World Health Report shows that our country has taken this faulty approach to solving the healthcare crisis. The U.S. is spending more money than any other country in the world on healthcare, but has a healthcare system that is not even among the top twenty systems in the