Several interesting health articles in today's Washington Post

[Guest guest]

Front page article titled: " US Losing Ground in Preventable Deaths "

Also a couple of articles in today's WP Health Section on the subject of

unnecessary medical testing.

I can't seem access the website or I'd post the entire articles... If

anyone else can access and post these, please do.

[Guest guest]

At 07:52 AM 10/06/2009, you wrote:

Front page article titled: " US Losing Ground in Preventable

Deaths "

Also a couple of articles in today's WP Health Section on the subject

of

unnecessary medical testing.

I can't seem access the website or I'd post the entire articles...

If

anyone else can access and post these, please do.

U.S. Losing Ground on Preventable Deaths

Despite High Medical Spending, Results Trail Other Wealthy

Countries

By Ceci Connolly

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

As Congress presses forward with landmark legislation to revamp

the nation's health-care system, lawmakers are grappling with a troubling

question:

Are Americans dying too soon? The answer is yes. When it comes to

" preventable deaths " -- an array of illnesses and injuries that

should not kill at an early age -- the United States trails other

industrialized nations and has been falling further behind over the past

decade.

Although the United States now spends $2.4 trillion a year on medical

care -- vastly more per capita than comparable countries -- the nation

ranks near the bottom on premature deaths caused by illnesses such as

diabetes, epilepsy, stroke, influenza, ulcers and pneumonia, according to

research by the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund published in the journal

Health Affairs.

During last week's marathon health-care debate in the Senate Finance

Committee,

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) bemoaned the findings.

" All of these countries have much lower costs than we do, " he

said, pointing to a giant blue chart showing the United States in last

place. " And they have higher quality outcomes than ours. "

Some lawmakers theorized that the rate could be related to trauma from

guns and automobiles.

Although gun and auto fatality rates are higher here than they are in

most wealthy nations, the statistics underscore more complex, fundamental

challenges, say physicians, economists and other experts who track

health-care systems across the world.

" Chronic illnesses are a much bigger driver of health-care

costs " than trauma cases such as vehicle crashes and gunshots, said

Shesser, head of emergency medicine at Washington

University. " Because of our wacky system, some people are bankrupted

or avoiding care and some are getting too much care -- they're hogging

care. "

The performance of the U.S. system is a mix, at best, said Mark Pearson,

head of the health division at the Organization for Economic ation

and Development, which analyzes data from dozens of countries.

" Where it's good, it's very, very good, and where it's bad, it's

horrid, " he said. The United States, for example, is the

international leader in the detection and treatment of most cancers, he

said. Americans have earlier access to new medicine and technology,

sometimes while the clinical trial is still under way. Europe, by

waiting, often has more information on new products.

For people with insurance, " America delivers care in a timely

manner, " Pearson noted. That stands in contrast to the situation his

own family faces in England, where relatives have waited weeks for tests

or elective procedures.

But as many as 80 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured, which

means they have little access to a regular physician, checkups,

preventive services, affordable prescription drugs, dental care or

screening tests.

In tracking preventable deaths, researchers count deaths from illnesses

or injuries that either need not happen at all or for which there are

therapies proven to keep someone alive to a certain age. Young children

dying of measles is preventable in developed countries, for instance.

Fatal cases of skin cancer, epilepsy, hernia and surgical complications

should not occur before age 70 and are thus deemed preventable.

" These are conditions where early care and the right care should be

able to prevent an early death, " said Schoen, a senior vice

president at the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund. " We shouldn't see

people dying of diabetes before age 50. "

In contrast, more complicated cancers, AIDS and most heart disease, while

often treatable, are not considered preventable, because even with the

best of modern medicine, patients often die before old age.

In 1997-1998, the United States ranked 15th in preventable deaths out of

19 industrialized countries. In 2002-2003, the nation fell to 19th, even

as costs continued to rise. Up to 100,000 lives could be saved if the

country's health-care system performed as well those in nations such as

France, Japan and Australia, according to the Commonwealth Fund study,

which was based on World Health Organization statistics.

Measuring preventable deaths can illuminate strengths and weaknesses in a

health-care system, Schoen said. Nations that dramatically lowered their

preventable-death rates focused on challenges such as controlling

diabetes and reducing hospital-acquired infections, she said.

Looking at the results, Pearson concluded: " The U.S. doesn't take

primary care very seriously. "

In terms of spending, the United States devotes about 16 percent of the

total economy to health care, more than seven percentage points higher

than the average of OECD countries. The average American consumed $7,290

worth of medical services in 2007, compared with an average of just under

$3,000 in the remaining nations when adjusted for price differences,

Pearson said.

More money went to higher physician salaries, larger administrative fees

and higher prices for most medical services. Americans also have higher

utilization rates of prescription medicines, sophisticated technology

such as imaging and surgical procedures such as cataract surgery, knee

replacements and Caesarean sections, according to the OECD analysis.

For Conrad, one of the key Senate health-care negotiators, the

international comparisons suggest following the lead of nations such as

Germany, France and Japan that achieve universal coverage through a blend

of private employer-based insurance and nonprofit cooperatives, with a

significant governmental role.

" What models most efficiently expand coverage, control costs and

provide high-quality care, " Conrad said. " You look around the

world, and it just jumps out at you. "

Maco