View Research by Author - Elizabeth Docteur

Publications

Building on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, health reform legislation would develop an infrastructure for the ongoing generation and dissemination of information on the comparative effectiveness, where "comparative effectiveness" has been defined as the study of methods to prevent, diagnoses, treat, and monitor A clinical condition or improve delivery of care to assist consumers, clinicians, purchasers, and policy makers to make informed decisions to improve health care at both individual and population levels. The issue brief explores the concept and describes areas of controversy that need to be addressed to make comparative effectiveness research successful.

In a review of published literature, authors Elizabeth Docteur and Robert Berenson, explored the question, How Does the Quality of U.S. Health Care Compare Internationally? The findings don't provide a definitive answer but suggest no support for the oft-repeated claim that "U.S. health care is the best in the world." The U.S. does relatively well in some areas, including cancer care, and less well in others, including conditions amenable to prevention and coordinated management of chronic conditions. The authors conclude that concerns that health reform could compromise currently excellent care are unwarranted; health reform can only help.

Return to list of authors