Comparing Healthcare Systems: USA vs Australia

Running head: HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS 1
Healthcare Systems
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation

HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS 2
Table of Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................................3
Health information (data quality and accessibility)............................................................................4
Health Services Delivery.......................................................................................................................6
Healthcare Workforce.........................................................................................................................10
Health Financing.................................................................................................................................11
Leadership and Governance...............................................................................................................13
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................13
References................................................................................................................................................15

HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS 3
Executive Summary
This report evaluates the USA and The Australian health care systems in terms of data quality
and availability as well as the general comparability using the World Health Organization
framework. The framework used to evaluate the two healthcare systems include; health
information (data quality and accessibility), health service delivery, leadership and governance,
health financing and health workforce. The findings from the comparison indicate that the data
quality and availability in Australia is better than that of USA. Secondly, the USA healthcare
system has better health service delivery than the Australian healthcare system. This is attributed
to the fact that the number of health facilities and beds is less than those in the USA. Thirdly, the
USA has a better workforce and health financing than Australia. The number of health care
professionals and total expenditure on health in Australia is less than that of the USA. Lastly, the
Australian healthcare has better leadership and governance than that USA. The data of the US
and Australian healthcare systems was obtained through the national and district databases,
routine administrative documents, the national health information systems, national health
accounts and the review of the national policies.

HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS 4
Introduction
Comparing the healthcare systems of countries play a crucial role in ensuring that they
improve their performance. I have chosen include the USA and Australian health care system
where the two will be compared in terms of data quality and availability and the general
comparability of the systems using the World Health Organization framework. The frameworks
used include health service delivery, health workforce, health information (data quality and
accessibility), health financing and leadership and governance.
Health information (data quality and accessibility).
According to the World Health Organization (2010), each healthcare system should
ensure that healthcare data is accessible and of high quality. Regarding health information, the
Australian health care system is more efficient compared to the USA. For instance, the
Australian healthcare system addresses important health issues affecting specific population
groups in a way that ensures valid estimate of statistical data, as well as comparisons, to help
detect the similarities, patterns and differences. Secondly, the healthcare system ensures that the
health information generated is used to respond to and guide health policies and activities.
Thirdly, they system also ensures that the data collected is accurate, valid and reliable to the
extent that the data can be compared across time and place (Department of Health & Human
Services, 2015).
Fourthly, the system also ensures that there is ease in the collection of data in a way that
neither the healthcare system nor the healthcare professionals are burdened by the cost of
collecting data. Both the administrative and clinical data are collected frequently in hospitals.
The system also ensures that the feedback on the data collected is routinely collected from the