And while disparities do exist between groups, they pale in comparison to a more general treatment gap: Overall, those surveyed got 54.9 percent of the care experts recommend for their condition.
"There's no question that disparities exist, but the big variations are not between groups, but between what people are getting and what people should be getting," said study author Dr. Steven M. Asch, of Rand Health. "Everyone, men and women, rich and poor, insured and uninsured, is at risk. No matter who you are, it's almost a flip of the coin as to whether you get the care that experts want for you."
The findings, reported in the March 16 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, are a clarion call for updating a fragmented health-care system and for making technology more available within this system, the researchers noted.
The study, conducted by Rand Health, is the third in a series on health-care quality in the United States. The two previous publications found that Americans receive only about half of recommended care, regardless of their geographical location.
Information tecnhonolgy may be the way to improve this. According to Asch, the Veterans Affairs system is already using upgraded information technology and "care has improved dramatically," to about two-thirds of veterans now receiving recommended care.
"We wouldn't tolerate this in almost any other sector of society," he continued. "We wouldn't tolerate it if a pilot had to memorize his preflight checklist before he flew cross country. It's a complicated thing to give medical care, and to do it right you need assistance."
Courtesy of HealthDay News
Bonnie - this is a sad state of affairs in a country that spends the most on healthcare in the world! The slowly turning trend toward prevention, and technology to a degree, will be the keys to stem this tide.
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