The health care system is failing in efficiency

The U.S. health care system is one of the most inefficient among high-income countries, a study by the Commonwealth Fund showed.

According to the report, the United States and Switzerland fail to meet administrative efficiency. It asserted that physicians must deal with insurance issues or medical claims. In that regard, it pointed to the time patients spend completing paperwork.

"Switzerland and the U.S. performed poorly on most of our administrative efficiency measures. Many patients in the U.S. are forced to deal with medical bill issues, and, in both countries, patients are comparatively more likely to seek treatment in emergency departments for conditions that are treatable in outpatient settings, like a primary care physician’s office," the report explained.

The study indicated that the U.S. health system's track record, particularly in relation to the amount the country spends on health care, is troubling.

"In terms of care availability, U.S. patients are more likely than their peers in most other countries to report they don’t have a regular doctor or place of care and face limited options for getting treatment after regular office hours. Shortages of primary care services add to these availability problems," it added.

Similarly, the Commonwealth Fund noted that the purpose of the report is for countries to take steps to improve their health care system. As such, it highlighted that "despite their overall rankings, all the countries have strengths and weaknesses, ranking high on some dimensions and lower on others."

"No country is at the top or bottom on all areas of performance. Even the top-ranked country — Australia — does less well, for example, on measures of access to care and care process. And even the U.S., with the lowest-ranked health system, ranks second in the care process domain," the study noted.

The researchers said the results show that the United States spends more on health but gets less for its dollar than other countries.

"No other country in the world expects patients and families to pay as much out of pocket for essential health care as they do in the U.S.", said Dr. Joseph Betancourt, president of the Commonwealth Fund, in a call with NBC to discuss the findings.