How is healthcare defined? Generally, we understand it as a set of systems we depend on, that help us maintain our personal health through prevention or treatment of illness, disease, injury, or another kind of mental or physical impairment. Many governments provide nationwide healthcare to their citizens; however, the standard and quality of care ultimately received by the patient differs from country to country, and there are several reasons for this. Ranking the world's countries in order of the best healthcare services is no small task, and to do so several factors were taken into consideration.
1. The Legatum Prosperity Index measures the extent to which people are healthy and have access to the necessary services to maintain good health, including health outcomes, health systems, illness and risk factors, and mortality rates.2. CEOWORLD Magazine's Health Care Index "is a statistical analysis of the overall quality of the health care system, including health care infrastructure; health care professionals (doctors, nursing staff, and other health workers) competencies; cost (USD p.a.per capita); quality medicine availability, and government readiness." Under this index, each country is scored out of a total of 100.
3. U.S. News & World Report is a valuable resource with a suite of health-focused rankings. Since 1990, the publication has compiled Best Hospital rankings.
Taking these three metrics into account, countries were ranked for their healthcare system's performance. Intrigued? Click on to learn where in the world you'll receive the best healthcare.