(ThedaCare: Appleton, WI) -- The ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value has published a new white paper, “Measuring Value: Linking Cost and Quality of Patient Outcomes to Drive Organization and Industry Improvements.” This health care value report illustrates the power of value metrics in improving U.S. health care.

Patient value, as defined by the center, is quality divided by cost. The ability to link quality of care with the cost of care (i.e., value) has previously been nearly impossible in health care. Unfortunately, as a result, the United States ranks in the bottom quartile for life expectancy but spends more per capita on health care than any other industrial country. It’s a trend the center hopes to reverse.

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