RWJF survey:58% providers and administrators rate US healthcare "Not Good"

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

HEALTHCARE QUALITY: Improving Clinical Outcomes

Healthcare providers and insurers take steps to improve the system.

Healthcare quality is often in the eye of the beholder, but most agree that every sector of the healthcare profession must constantly raise the bar to ensure the best patient care possible is being provided

Although the United States has perhaps the most advanced healthcare system in the world, disparities between care delivered to different demographic groups remain troubling. And healthcare workers continue to complain that care often falls far short of perfection.

According to a 2001 survey of more than 1,000 healthcare professionals by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 58 percent of providers and administrators rated healthcare in the United States as not very good. As many as 95 percent of the physicians reported that they have witnessed a "serious" medical error. In addition, four out of five surveyed said they believed fundamental changes are needed in the U.S. healthcare system

The following data both outlines the current problems and suggests steps to improve healthcare quality across the United States.

http://www.healthleaders.com/magazine/factfile.php?contentid=38061&CE_Session=93f61e5b84b2b4eec8c0f0048555d9eb