Preventive care is crucial to an effective health care delivery system. When utilized appropriately, preventive care services such as Pap tests, mammograms, flu vaccinations, reminders for preventive care visits, and discussions of emotional and lifestyle issues can increase the effectiveness of care through the early diagnosis or prevention of illness.
I think to reduce the health disparities, just investing in preventive care alone is not enough any more. Policy makers should not focus just on investing more in preventive medicine. Equally important will be improving and sustaining its ability to promote healthy lives, and on the provision of care that is safe and coordinated, as well as accessible, efficient, and equitable.
This is because, according to the pie chart from CMS, we are said to spend only 3% on preventive medicine. But, latest study done by "The Common Wealth Fund" showed that compared with the other five countries like UK, Canada, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, the U.S. actually fares BEST and rank #1 on provision and receipt of preventive care, in a dimension called "right care."
However, its low scores on chronic care management and safe, coordinated, and patient-centered care pull its overall quality score down.
The bottom line is that we have the best science in the world and have competitive edge. But, we don’t have the best health care system in the world to maintain it.
The study was published by Davis, Schoen, Schoenbaum et al in May, 2007 issue of The Commonwealth Fund report.
Please check “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: An International Update on the Comparative Performance of American Health Care” for more details about the study.
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