http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7330/0
Kaiser outperforms the NHS
Kaiser Permanente, a Californian non-profit
health maintenance organisation, has costs similar to those of the NHS but
performs considerably better. This finding emerges from a detailed
study of the costs and performance of the two systems (p 135).
Feachem and colleagues adjusted costs to allow for differences in
the population served and other factors, and compared performance
by using multiple criteria. Kaiser members have faster access to
consultant and hospital services, possibly because Kaiser saves resources
by having only a third of the NHS's hospital utilisation rate (bed
days per 1000 per year). The authors attribute Kaiser's better
performance to better integration of all the elements of the system,
management of hospital utilisation, competition, and greater
investment in information technology. 
ALL
INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR
GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE
KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED
AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO
VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU
ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
