Zeitschrift für Gesundheitsinformatik und -management

U.S. Healthcare System in Crisis

Naresh Khatri

The U.S. health care system is in crisis. It is both inefficient and wasteful, and seems unsustainable [1,2]. The Institute of Medicine Report (2012) estimates that about $750 billion, or 30 cents of every medical dollar, is squandered in unnecessary health spending annually [1]. According to the report, the waste and inefficiencies consist of unnecessary services ($210 billion), inefficiently delivered service ($130 billion), excessive administrative costs ($190 billion), and overpriced services ($105 billion).