ABSTRACT
Most comparisons of performance are made of units within the same region or the same country. Compared with multinational sources, local data are more likely to be available and consistently defined and collected, and the units are subject to the same healthcare system, which helps with interpretation of any performance variations. Nonetheless, there are good reasons to look further afield. Most governments are eager to get more for their healthcare dollar, and it’s natural to look abroad for potential solutions to the common problems of rising costs, health market failures, poor quality and safety and inequalities. A country or indeed any healthcare unit that claims to be a world leader ought to have evidence for those claims, and such evidence can’t come from a merely national information source.
