Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1528790
21 HEALTHCARE NEWS 21 with 26 million Americans uninsured and cost-sharing requirements that prevent patients from seeking medical attention when needed. By contrast, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Germany perform best on access overall. 4. Australia and the United Kingdom virtually tied for the best performance on administrative efficiency, while Switzerland and the U.S. performed worst on most of these measures. e complex system of public and private payers in the U.S. works against this category, with the country receiving the worst score for providers spending time on paperwork or disputes related to medical bills. 5. New Zealand and the U.S. rank last in equity, which assesses disparities in access to care and patient experiences between individuals with below-average and above-average incomes. e U.S. struggled with particularly low scores related to patients forgoing care due to financial reasons and difficulties accessing aer-hours medical services. A high percentage of patients in both countries reported feeling unfairly treated or having their health concerns dismissed during healthcare encounters. 6. e U.S.'s bottom ranking for health outcomes is driven by poor performance in four of five outcome measures. Life expectancy is more than four years under the 10-country average, and the U.S. leads in preventable and treatable deaths across all ages, as well as excess deaths from the pandemic for those under 75. High rates of substance use and gun violence significantly worsen outcomes, with over 100,000 overdose deaths and 43,000 gun-related deaths in 2023 — figures far higher than in other high-income countries. "To create a health system that truly safeguards the well- being of Americans, the U.S. will need interventions besides those directly related to healthcare services," the report notes. n Hospital payroll on the rise By Laura Dyrda H ospital and health system payroll continued to steadily rise in August, according to Fitch Ratings, which expects more of the same in September. Last month, the average hospital payrolls rose for the 32nd month in a row; ambulatory healthcare services also reported payroll increases for the 43rd consecutive month. Here are three other key data points from the report: 1. Hospital payroll was up 6.7% since February 2020 in August, reflecting the steep payroll increases through the pandemic. Ambulatory health services reported a 12.6% payroll jump in the same timeframe. 2. Hospitals have averaged adding around 18,650 jobs per month in the last 12 months, reflecting the transition away from contract labor and more emphasis on internal hiring and growth. 3. The average hourly earnings for hospital employees declined in 2024 so far, to around 3% growth year over year. "In addition to cooling wage inflation, hospital payrolls are showing post-pandemic growth that exceeds payroll growth in the overall private sector, though the growth has not eliminated clinical labor shortages," Fitch states in the report. "Hospitals are still dealing with post-pandemic pent-up service demand, especially from seniors, that has kept labor needs high." n ADVERTISINGINDEX Note: Ad page number(s) given in parentheses AdvantageTrust. ascadvantage.com (pg. 3) Baxter. baxter.com / (888) 229-0001 (pg. 19) Cardinal Health. cardinalhealth.com/ambulatory-surgery-center (pg. 23) ECG Management Consultants. ecgmc.com (pgs. 8-9) healow. eClinicalWorks / eclinicalworks.com / sunoh.ai (pg. 11) MedEvolve. medevolve.com (pg. 17) nimble solutions. nimblercm.com (pg. 5) Smith+Nephew. smith-nephew.com/asc / (978) 749-1000 (pg. 15) Stryker. safeor.com (pg. 2) Synergen Health. synergenhealth.com (pg. 12) Zotec Partners. zotecpartners.com (pg. 22)