Health System Dashboard
How well is the U.S. health system performing? Explore a variety of indicators of health spending, quality of care, access, and health outcomes. For more, see our brief and tutorial video.
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Health Spending
U.S. health spending has consistently outpaced economic growth. Health spending slowed down in recent years, but the improving economy and expansion of coverage may result in an upward trend again.
Cost of Health Services
National spending on services
In recent years, spending on hospitals, physicians, and prescriptions has slowed to a similar pace.
Total Health Spending
17.9%
of the GDP
Prices & Use
Disease Treatment Costs
Spending on disease treatment
The top five disease-based spending categories account for half of all medical services spending by disease category.
Spending Growth
Access & Affordability
Most adults in the U.S. have health insurance. Still, care can often be unaffordable for those in worse health, with low incomes, and the uninsured.
Insurance Coverage
Percent insured
Despite recent gains in coverage due to the ACA, the U.S. still has the lowest insured rate of comparable countries.
Patient Experience
26%
waited 6+ days, compared to an average of 19% of adults in similar countries.
Affordability
Out-of-pocket spending
Out-of-pocket expenditures have grown steadily since 1970, averaging $1,093 per capita in 2016, up from $119 per capita in 1970 ($590 in 2016 dollars).
Access to Care
Usual source of care
Half of those who are uninsured report not having a usual source of care, compared to one in ten of those with insurance.
Health & Wellbeing
The U.S. has seen consistent improvement in measures of the longevity and quality of life, but self-reported health has worsened slightly.
Length of Life
Health Determinants
-63%
from 1990 to 2015
Quality of life
Self-reported health
Most adults report being in at least good health, but the share reporting fair or poor health has increased slightly.
Quality of Care
The U.S. health system has improved on measures of providing safe, recommended care with appropriate short-term outcomes, but not as quickly as comparable countries.
Appropriate Treatment
Preventable hospital admissions
Among adults, the rate of potentially avoidable hospitalizations has declined over time.
Health System Capacity
Treatment Outcomes
30-day mortality following certain admissions
Mortality rates within 30 days after hospital admission have decreased slightly for some conditions.
Patient Safety
Hospital-acquired conditions
The number of hospital acquired infections occurring at U.S. hospitals has decreased.
-21%
from 2010 to 2015
Preventive Services
Immunization rates
Recently, the percent of children receiving recommended doses of vaccines has fluctuated slightly.
