Question

A report from the American Council on Competitiveness​ notes: "there has been some recent progress in the digital health​ sector, which aims to better integrate information and software technologies into all aspects of​ healthcare." The report also concludes​ that: "the U.S. has rather poor health outcomes relative to other developed countries and stands out as having exceptionally low healthcare productivity when measuring outcomes against​ spending."

Briefly discuss the evidence for and against the U.S. health care sector having exceptionally low health care productivity when comparing outcomes to spending.

​Source: Jonathan​ Rothwell, "No​ Recovery: An Analysis of​ Long-Term U.S. Productivity​ Decline," U.S. Council on​ Competitiveness, 2016, pp. 54 and 76.

Compared to other​ high-income countries, such as​ Canada, Japan, and the United​ Kingdom, the United States has higher health care productivity in that it has _______________ but has lower health care productivity in that it has ______________.

Blank 1 options:

1. A longer life expectancy from birth

2. A lower risk of dying from cancer before age 75

3. More CT scanners per capita

4. Less obesity

Blank 2 options:

1. Fewer CT scanners per capita

2. Fewer MRI units per capita

3. A higher mortality rate for cancer

4. A higher infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births

Answer 1

Blank 1

Option 3 more CT scanners per capita

Computer tomography (CT) scanners are vital medical technology used in the diagnosis and monitoring of various medical conditions. CT scanner utilize x-ray technology to make images of bones, vessels and other internal organs. As of 2017, Australia had the largest number of CT scanners per one million population with 64.35 scanners per million people. The country with the second most scanners at that time was Iceland with 44.33 scanners per million people. The third Number is of United States with 42.64 per million people.

Blank 2

Option 4 a higher infant mortality per 1,000 live births

The U.S. infant mortality rate (5.8 deaths under one year of age per 1,000 live births) is 71 percent higher than the comparable country average (3.4 deaths). Research indicates socioeconomic inequality in the U.S. is likely a primary contributor to its higher infant mortality, along with differential reporting methods.