Dive Brief:
- In a survey of primary care physicians (PCPs) across 10 developed countries, The Commonwealth Fund found 24% of U.S. PCPs were not prepared to coordinate care for patients with complex chronic conditions.
- For mental healthcare, the results were even worse. Eighty-four percent of PCPs reported they were not ready to manage severe mental health cases.
- The U.S. mostly compared unfavorably to the other countries included in the survey. Only 12% of PCPs in Germany and the Netherlands felt unprepared to care for patients with severe mental health issues, or those requiring long term home care.
Dive Insight:
The U.S. also fell short in communication between PCPs and hospitals, as well as in caring for patients after hours without resorting to the emergency room.
Under a third of U.S. doctors were notified when a patient was either admitted into an ER or discharged from a hospital. Compare this to the Netherlands, the leading country in this area, where 69% of doctors reported being notified when patients were discharged. While roughly 90% of PCPs in the Netherlands, the UK, and New Zealand have planned for after hours care of patients, only two-fifths of U.S. doctors have done so.
The U.S. did perform strongly in health IT, with 60% of primary care practices allowing patients to access their records electronically.
Under the Affordable Care Act, the U.S. has attempted to incentivize doctors to aim for better patient outcomes rather than a fee-for-service model. This survey demonstrates the U.S. still lags behind developed peers, perhaps suggesting the American healthcare system is still transitioning to meet the new law's requirements.
