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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (478233)	5/5/2009 11:06:58 PM
From: i-node	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577123

>> So what is a good metric or metrics for a good health system....infant mortality....number of people getting quality health care....number of people insured....prevalence of cardiac disease??? Where the newest technologies are being developed. Where cancer rates are best (cancer treatments are generally amongst the newest medications and good outcomes are a result of efficient, high quality imaging). Short waiting periods (last week, my sister-in-law saw a spine specialist at 10am and an MRI was ordered -- she got it 1pm, same day -- try that anywhere else in the world). There are plenty of objective criteria. Life expectancy isn't one of them. Infant mortality is a better indicator, but still not adequate -- since things like the levels of substance abuse and miles driven in a car affect infant mortality. There are few Americans who can't get quality health care if they choose to. About 95% have health insurance or choose not to because they're health. Of the remaining 5%, almost all can get better health care in the US than a person in another country. For example, a person with no health insurance and no visible means of support can walk into Parkland Hospital in Dallas and receive the full $50,000 workup if that it what is needed to diagnose his problem. Most significant localities in the country have some kind of facility on this level. Cardiac disease, like life expectancy, is a relatively meaningless metric. While it is meaningful in establishing the "health" of the population, it means little in relation to the "health care". It would have more meaning in the context of per-capita fast food joints or the extent to which people get routine exercise here versus in Costa Rica.