BusinessWeek (11/6, Arnst) reports that investigators took responses from "10,000 doctors in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Britain and the US between February and July of this year" regarding their patients' accessibility to medical care and medications. The article focuses on the finding that "58 percent of US doctors said their patients often have difficulty paying for medications and other medical care, compared with five to 37 percent in the other countries surveyed." American physicians are also "less likely than those in the other countries surveyed to offer care outside of regular office hours, and are far, far behind several other nations in the use of electronic health records that could reduce errors."
Healthcare IT News (11/5, Monegain) reported that "many of the areas in which the United States lags would be addressed by health reform legislation currently under consideration in Congress." The report concludes that "national policies have been instrumental in achieving round-the-clock access, information systems and advance primary care teams in leading countries." AFP (11/5) also covered the story.

Related Links:

- U.S. lags in EHR use: Commonwealth Fund," Andis Robeznieks, Modern Healthcare, November 5, 2009.

- Doctor Survey: US Health System Lags on Access, Quality," Cathy Arnst, BusinessWeek, November 5, 2009.