Review articleHigh value, cost-conscious care: An international imperative
Section snippets
Learning points
- •
Health care costs in the United States, which already represent nearly 18% of GDP, are continuing to rise at an unsustainable rate.
- •
Approximately 30% of health care costs in the U.S. are thought to be “wasted,” i.e. adding to costs without benefiting patients.
- •
The number of diagnostic tests per patient, including imaging studies, has risen by approximately 85% over the past decade, and the overuse of these studies must be addressed in order to provide optimal care and control costs.
- •
It is an
Conflict of interest statement
Dr. Hood is President of the American College of Physicians (2011–2012). She has no other conflicts of interest.
Dr. Weinberger is an employee of the American College of Physicians. He has no other conflicts of interest.
References (20)
To err is human: building a safer health care system
(2000)Crossing the quality chasm
(2001)National health expenditure data: projected
The long-term outlook for health care spending
Health care spending in the United States and in selected OECD countries
Achieving a high-performance health care system with universal access: what the United States can learn from other countries
Ann Intern Med
(2008)OECD health data 2011
Policy basics: where do our federal tax dollars go?
The healthcare imperative: lowering costs and improving outcomes
(2010)- et al.
Medical professionalism in the new millennium: a physician charter
Ann Intern Med
(2002)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.
Cited by (0)
Copyright © 2012 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.