International Resources
Thanks to Joel A. Harrison, Ph.D., MPH for compiling the list of links below.
International Links
- European Observatory on Health Care Systems This is a phenomenal asset. Using a set format to allow comparisons between countries, each report is about 150 pages including history, legislation, organization, delivery, financing, process and outcomes, current problems and future trends. Shorter summaries for each of the countries are also available. In addition, they have specific reports on a number of topics, including international comparisons of efforts to improve quality, etc.
- 2008 Documentary on National Health Insurance in five nations: UK, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland: “Sick Around the World”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/
- Kaiser Forum on “Sick Around the World” featuring Jackie Judd, T. R. Reid, Tsung-Mei Cheng and Uwe Reinhardt:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/hcast_index.cfm?display=detail&hc=2576
- International Health Systems for Single Payer Advocates by PNHP Executive Director Dr. Ida Hellander
International Comparisons — Process, Outcomes, Costs
The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System. Why Not the Best? Results from the National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2008. New York, July 2008. [based on both national and international benchmarks, this study covers topics such as quality, access, outcomes, cost, and timeliness. We often here about wait times in other countries without a compared to what? This study found that in a ranking of 6 nations, the U.S. ranked last on “ability to see doctor same/next day when sick or need medical care,” and “[getting] care after hours without going to the emergency room.]
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=692682
Nolte E, McKee M. Measuring the health of nations: analysis of mortality amenable to health care. BMJ 2003; 327: 1129-33. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/327/7424/1129
Nolte E, McKee CM. Measuring the health of nations: updating an earlier analysis. Health Affairs 2008; 27(1): 58-71
http://pnhp.org/PDF_files/Measuring%20the%20Health%20of%20Nations%20-%20Updating%20An%20Earlier%20Analysis.pdf
Gusmano MK, et al. A New Way to Compare Health Systems: Avoidable Hospital Conditions in Manhattan and Paris. Health Affairs. 2006; 25(2): 510-520. http://pnhp.org/PDF_files/A%20New%20Way%20to%20Compare%20Healh%20Systems%20-%20Avoidable.pdf
Links by Country
Multiple Countries Summaries & Additional Sources
- Descriptions of Health Care Systems: Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom from the Commonwealth Fund
- The U.S. spends more for less because of its fragmented financing system
Anderson, G. et al, “It’s the Prices, Stupid: Why the United States is so Different from Other Countries,” Health Affairs 22(3), May/June 2004
- U.S. Care Quality is No Better Than Other Countries
Hussey, P. et al “How Does the Quality of Care Compare in Five Countries?” Health Affairs 23(3) May/June 2004
Australia
Belgium
Canada
- Canadian Medical Protective Association (Canadian malpractice)
- The Canadian Health System: Lessons for the United States
US General Accounting Office Report, June 1991
- A Survey of the Canadian Health System
Armstrong, et al “A Perfect System?” excerpted from Universal Health Care, New York Press, 1998
- A Survey of Studies Comparing the U.S. and Canada (pdf)
PNHP Brief, May 2006
- The Future of Health Care in Canada (pdf)
Report of the Romanow Commission
- 10 Myths About Canadian Health Care, Busted
By Sara Robinson | TomPaine.com
- Getting Better Health Care: Lessons from (and for) Canada
By Armine Yalnizyan | Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Denmark
Finland
France
Books & Monographs
- Sandier S, et al. Health Care Systems in Transition: France. Copenhagen, DK: The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, WHO; 2004. http://www.euro.who.int/document/e83126.pdf
- Green DG, Irvine B. Health Care in France and Germany: Lessons for the UK. London, England: Civitas: Institute for the Study of Civil Society; 2001.
http://www.civitas.org.uk/pdf/cs17.pdf
- Harrison JA. Review of Paul V. Dutton’s, Differential Diagnoses: A comparative history of health care problems and solutions in the United States and France. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press; 2007.
http://www.amazon.com/Differential-Diagnoses-Comparative-Problems-Solutions/dp/0801445124/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216155367&sr=1-1
- Rodwin VG (Ed.) Universal Health Insurance in France: How Sustainable? Essays on the French Health Care System. Washington, DC: Embassy of France; 2006.
http:wagner.nyu.edu/health/universal.pdf
http:www.ilcusa.org/_lib/pdf/FrenchHealthCare.pdf
Articles
- Health Care Systems in Transition: France (HiT summary. Copenhagen, DK: The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, WHO; 2004. http://www.euro.who.int/document/e83126sum.pdf
- Capell K. The French Lesson in Health Care: The Nation’s System isn’t quite as superb as Sicko maintains, but it’s pretty good. Business Week, July 9, 2007.http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_28/b4042070.htm
- Dutton PV. A Primer on French Health Care (drawn from book Differential Diagnosis by Paul V. Dutton). http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/pvd/Primer.htm
- Dutton PV. France’s model healthcare system. Boston Globe, August 11, 2007. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/08/11/frances_model_healthcare_system/
- Dutton PV. Health Care in France and the United States: Learning from Each Other. The Brookings Institution, July 2002. http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2002/07france_dutton.aspx
- Gusmano MK, et al. A New Way To Compare Health Systems: Avoidable Hospital Conditions In Manhattan and Paris. Health Affairs. 2006; 25(2): 510-520. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/25/2/510
- Rodwin VG. The Health Care System Under French National Health Insurance: Lessons for Health Reform in the United States. American Journal of Public Health. 2003; 93(1): 31-37. http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/full/93/1/31
- French High Commission on Public Health. Le système de santé en France, 2000 [in French] http://www.sante.gouv.fr/htm/minister/systsan.htm
Germany
New Zealand
Norway
Spain
Sweden
- Glenngård AH, Hjalte F, Svensson M, Anell A, Bankauskaite V.
Health Systems in Transition: Sweden. Copenhagen, DK: WHO Regional
Office for Europe on behalf of the European Observatory on Health
Systems and Policies, 2005. http://www.euro.who.int/Document/E88669.pdf
- Health Care Systems in Transition: Sweden (HiT summary. Copenhagen, DK: WHO Regional Office for Europe on behalf of the European Observatory on Health
Systems and Policies, 2005. http://www.euro.who.int/Document/E88669sum.pdf
- Rae D. Getting Better Value for Money from Sweden’s Healthcare System. Economics Department Working Papers No. 443. Paris, FR: OECD.
http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2005doc.nsf/LinkTo/NT000040B2/$FILE/JT00189812.PDF
This OECD document “Getting Better Value . . .” is quite good. One flaw is its discussion of the one for-profit hospital in Stockholm. While it is true that this particular hospital provides quality care at a low cost, it has to. In an environment hostile to for-profit medicine, one lone hospital has to mind its Ps and Qs or their charter would be revoked. Once the system becomes dominated by the for-profit industry, it’s an entirely different ballgame, as we know from the U.S. experience. Research shows that private, investor-owned hospitals have higher costs and higher mortality rates than private, non-profit hospitals in the U.S. The author of the document doesn’t take this into account.
- Swedish Institute. Swedish Health Care. Stockholm, SE, 2007. http://www.sweden.se/upload/Sweden_se/english/factsheets/SI/SI_FS76z_Swedish_Health_Care/FS76z%20FINAL_Low.pdf
- The National Institute of Public Health. Sweden’s New Public Health Policy. Stockholm, SE, 2002. http://www.fhi.se/upload/PDF/2004/English/roll_eng.pdf
- Whitehead M, Gustafsson R A, Diederichsen F. Why is Sweden rethinking its NHS style reforms? BMJ 1997;315:935-939 http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/315/7113/935