Comparing health system performance in OECD countries

We present data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Health Organization on the performance of the health care systems in twenty-nine industrialized countries in 1998. We also compare the performance of the United States with the other industrialized countries for selected indicators in 1960, 1980, and 1998. On most indicators the U.S. relative performance declined since 1960; on none did it improve.