Data comparing health expenditures in twenty-four industrialized nations show that the United States continues to lead the world in health spending as a percentage of gross domestic product. In 1991 the United States spent $2,868 per person on health care, compared with an average of $1,305 in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. The U.S. figure exceeds spendi...

Many of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries use global budgeting to control all or certain portions of their health care expenditures. Although the use of global budgets as a cost-containment tool has not been implemented in the United States in any comprehensive way, recent health care reform initiatives have increased the need for research into such tools. In g...

The Canadian Medical Association's More Doctors, More Care campaign seeks to align physician supply targets with policy decisions elsewhere in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Using OECD data for 19 countries to assess the relationship between physician supply and healthcare outcomes, we have determined that there is no association between avoidable mortality a...

The New Zealand health care sector stands out relative to other OECD countries, with relatively low per-capita health expenditure and a public dominant health system. Efficient allocation of resources is therefore paramount. This paper creates a predictive model for patient volume using the national database of hospital admissions. Contrasting predicted with actual demand, we construct indicato...

BACKGROUND Major variations in medical practice have been documented internationally. Variations raise questions about the quality, equity, and efficiency of resource allocation and use, and have important implications for health care and health policy. OBJECTIVE To perform a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature on medical practice variations in OECD countries. METHODS We searc...

A healthy workforce is critical to the success of an organization or a society. Properly managing the delivery of health care is thus an important function of modern health care systems. However, health care delivery today is rife with waste and inefficiency. Kohn et al. (2000) estimated 50,000 to 100,000 lives are lost each year because of medical errors. Schoen et al. (2006) found that 42 per...

BACKGROUND This paper contributes to research in health systems literature by examining the role of health boards in hospital governance. Health care ranks among the largest public sectors in OECD countries. Efficient governance of hospitals requires the responsible and effective use of funds, professional management and competent governing structures. In this study hospital governance practice...

OBJECTIVES To compare average levels of population health for Australia and other OECD countries in 2001. METHODS Healthy life expectancies (HALE) for OECD countries for 2001 are based on analysis of mortality data for OECD countries, country-specific estimates of health state prevalences for 135 causes from the Global Burden of Disease 2000 study, and an analysis of 34 health surveys in 28 O...