Comparison of Healthcare Utilization and Costs in the U.S. vs. Other Countries

How do the use and price of healthcare in the U.S. compare to other countries? Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker

The U.S. has fewer physician consultations per capita than most comparable countries Doctors Consultations, per capita, in all settings, 2010 14 13.1 12 9.9 10 8.1 7.7 8 7.4 6.9 6.7 6.6 6.6 6 5.0 4.0 4.0 4 2 0 Switzerland United States United Kingdom Australia Netherlands France Austria Belgium Canada Comparable Country Average Germany Japan Source: OECD (2013), "OECD Health Data: Health care utilisation", OECD Health Statistics (database). doi: 10.1787/health-data-en (Accessed on October 29, 2014). Notes: In cases where 2011 data were unavailable, data from the countries' last available year are shown. Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker

The U.S. consistently has had fewer physician consultations per capita than comparable countries Doctors Consultations, per capita, in all settings, 1995 - 2010 10 Comparable country average 8 8.1 7.4 6 United States 4 4.0 3.3 2 0 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 Source: OECD (2013), "OECD Health Data: Health care utilisation", OECD Health Statistics (database). doi: 10.1787/health-data-en (Accessed on October 29, 2014). Notes: In cases where 2010 data were unavailable, data from the countries' last available year are shown. Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker

Patients in the U.S. have much shorter average hospital stays than patients in comparable countries Average number of days in the hospital per visit (all causes) (2010) Japan 18.2 Germany 9.5 Switzerland 9 Comparable Country Average 8.1 Austria 7.9 Canada 7.7 United Kingdom 7.4 Belgium 6.9 Sweden 6 France 5.7 Netherlands 5.6 Australia 5 United States 4.8 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Source: Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of 2013 OECD data: "OECD Health Data: Health care utilisation", OECD Health Statistics (database). doi: 10.1787/health-data-en (Accessed on September 10, 2014). Notes: In cases where 2010 data were unavailable, data from the countries' last available year are shown. Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker

Overtime, the U.S. has had much shorter average hospital stays than patients in comparable countries Inpatient care average length of stay, all hospitals (2011) 18 16.1 16 14 12 10.8 Comparable country average 10 8.2 8 6.1 6 United States 4 2 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Source: OECD (2013), "OECD Health Data: Health care utilisation", OECD Health Statistics (database). doi: 10.1787/health-data-en (Accessed on December 16, 2014). Notes: In cases where 2010 data were unavailable, data from the countries' last available year are shown. Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker

The U.S. performs fewer angioplasty and more coronary bypass surgeries than most comparable countries Number of Transluminal coronary angioplasties performed per 100,000 population (2010) Number of Coronary artery bypass grafts performed per 100,000 population (2009) Germany Australia 336 92 Austria United States 240 79 Belgium Belgium 211 73 Switzerland Germany 203 71 France Canada 198 61 Comparable Country Average Netherlands 193 58 Netherlands Comparable Country Average 185 55 Sweden Austria 175 48 Australia Switzerland 160 46 United States Sweden 157 42 Canada United Kingdom 132 33 United Kingdom France 94 30 0 100 200 300 400 0 20 40 60 80 100 Source: OECD (2013), "OECD Health Data: Health care utilisation", OECD Health Statistics (database). doi: 10.1787/health-data-en (Accessed on October 29, 2014). Notes: In cases where 2010 or 2009 data were unavailable, data from the countries' last available year are shown. Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker

The number of angioplasties performed in the U.S. is declining Number of Transluminal coronary angioplasties performed per 100,000 population 250 226 Comparable country average 200 193 United States 150 157 120 100 50 0 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 Source: OECD (2013), "OECD Health Data: Health care utilisation", OECD Health Statistics (database). doi: 10.1787/health-data-en (Accessed on October 29, 2014). Notes: In cases where 2010 data were unavailable, data from the countries' last available year are shown. Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker

The number of coronary bypass surgeries performed in the U.S. is declining Number of Coronary artery bypass grafts performed per 100,000 population 250 200 150 100 106 United States 79 50 51 53 Comparable country average 0 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Source: OECD (2013), "OECD Health Data: Health care utilisation", OECD Health Statistics (database). doi: 10.1787/health-data-en (Accessed on October 29, 2014). Notes: In cases where 2010 data were unavailable, data from the countries' last available year are shown. Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker

The average price of an angioplasty or bypass in the U.S. is higher than in other comparable countries Average price of an Angioplasty (2013) Average price of Coronary bypass surgery (2013) $30,000 $80,000 $75,345 $27,907 $70,000 $25,000 $60,000 $20,000 $50,000 $42,130 $15,000 $40,000 $36,509 $10,897 $30,000 $10,000 $8,477 $20,000 $15,742 $5,295 $5,000 $10,000 $0 $0 Netherlands Australia Switzerland United States Netherlands Switzerland Australia United States Source: International Federation of Health Plans (2013), 2013 Comparative Price Report, Variation in Medical and Hospital Prices by Country Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker

The U.S. performs more caesarean sections than most comparably wealthy countries Number of caesarean sections performed per 100,000 female population (2012) Netherlands 343 Sweden 386 Belgium 460 France 486 Germany 497 Austria 527 Comparable Country Average 541 Canada 574 United Kingdom 612 Switzerland 669 United States 813 Australia 855 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 Source: OECD (2013), "OECD Health Data: Health care utilisation", OECD Health Statistics (database). doi: 10.1787/health-data-en (Accessed on October 29, 2014). Notes: In cases where 2012 data were unavailable, data from the countries' last available year are shown. Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker

The average price of a caesarean section in the U.S. is more than the price of a normal delivery Average price of a caesarean section (2013) Average price of normal delivery (2013) $18,000 $12,000 $16,000 $15,240 $10,002 $10,000 $14,000 $8,307 $12,000 $8,000 $10,681 $10,263 $6,623 $10,000 $6,000 $8,000 $5,492 $6,000 $4,000 $2,824 $4,000 $2,000 $2,000 $0 $0 Netherlands Australia Switzerland United States Netherlands Australia Switzerland United States Source: International Federation of Health Plans (2013), 2013 Comparative Price Report, Variation in Medical and Hospital Prices by Country Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker

U.S. leads comparable OECD countries in MRI availability and use Number of MRI units available per million population (2012) Number of MRI exams performed per 1,000 population (2013) United States United States 34 107 Austria Germany 19 95 Australia France 15 82 Comparable Country Average Belgium 12 77 Netherlands Comparable Country Average 12 64 Canada Canada 9 54 France Netherlands 9 50 United Kingdom Australia 7 28 0 10 20 30 40 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Sources: OECD (2013), "OECD Health Data: Health care resources", OECD Health Statistics (database). doi: 10.1787/health-data-en (Accessed on September 10, 2014). Notes: In cases where 2011 data were unavailable, data from the countries' last available year are shown. Some countries, such as Japan, are omitted because data are not available for both indicators. Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker

The average price of an MRI in the U.S. is significantly higher than in other comparable countries Average price of an MRI (2013) $1,400 $1,200 $1,145 $1,000 $800 $600 $461 $350 $400 $200 $138 $0 Switzerland Australia Netherlands United States Source: International Federation of Health Plans (2013), 2013 Comparative Price Report, Variation in Medical and Hospital Prices by Country Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker