The State of Health Care Quality

• 11/13/2009
• Author: Audrie Bretl Roelf
• Category: Benchmark Blog
• 18761 Views
• 0 Comments
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The State of Health Care Quality 2009, an annual report provided by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, finds that the quality of U.S. health care was nearly stagnant in 2008. This was seen as a slow down after a decade of improvements. The down turning trend was seen in care provided both to people with private insurance coverage as well as with Medicare and Medicaid. The report also examined the link between higher health care spending and quality and found virtually no connection between the two, a finding said to have significant implications for health care reform efforts. You can find a copy of the report here.

There was a good news when it came to the use of beta-blocker drugs for heart attack care and the delivery of flu shots. The big disappointments were in several measures related to mental health, diabetes care, the overuse of imaging for low back pain, and breast cancer screening.

This being said, what have you seen as major strengths and weaknesses in health care during the last year? What would you like to see happen differently in 2010?

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