数学中国 Ww. madio net 140 The UMAP Journal 29.2(2008) by selecting a healthcare component; for each of the metrics corresponding Determine the maximum and minimum values of the metric for a large sampleof countries; if a large samplenot available, then the metriccannot be used reliabl Scale each countrys datum linearly into the interval [0, 1] where the minimum value is mapped to o and the maximum value to I If the metric is undesirable (e. g, prevalence of obesity), subtract the scaled values from 1 to transform the metric into a desirable metric(e.g, lack of obesity). Then calculate the average value of all metrics associated with a country and define this number to be the country smeta-metric value for the chosen healthcare component. A meta-metric represent how well a country performs, on average, rel- ative to the rest of the world for a given healthcare component. A value close to 1 signifies that the component delivers care of the highest quality currently available; a value near O signifies that the country delivers some f the poorest quality care. Because of their compactness, meta-metrics are easy to use for comparisons between existing and potential healthcare systems Comparing Healthcare Systems United States The U.S. is the only developed country that does not employ universal coverage [Torrens 1978]. Instead, healthcare is different for every person, and consists of a loose association of coverage plans provided by private sources,the government and employers. The average middle-class person is usually covered by some sort of insurance and employs a private physi cian in sole charge of managing the individuals healthcare. Physicians exercise substantial influence on the U.S. system, because of their position in healthcare administration, as well as general tendencies of policy to favor private medical practice. This influence leads to the question of whether or not physicians or the federal government should control healthcare. More pressing issues are also troubling the U.S., as the increasing health budget is yielding little advance in the overall quality of care Torrens 1978]. To test the effectiveness of the meta-metrics, we compare several coun- tries for which there is a clear ranking of healthcare already established Based on "financial faimess, " the WHO ranked the healthcare systems of Sweden, the U.S., and Nigeria as 12th, 54th, and 180th in the world [2000bl Meta-metric values, calculated from the metrics and processes described earlier, are given in Table 1.数学中国ww.madio.net