A recently carried out survey reached the conclusion that the United States patients are the subjects of more medical errors, coordination problems and out-of-pocket costs than in other countries.

The study was carried out by New York's The Commonwealth Fund, a non-profit organization. The fund published the findings of the study in the journal Health Affairs. The main idea of the findings was that the U.S. patients are much more likely to demand a fundamental change in their country's healthcare system. One third of the people questioned said the health care system doesn’t need a makeover, it needs a new face.

The survey included 7,500 chronically ill patients in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Britain and the United States. The patients were adults who had at least one of seven chronic diseases: high blood pressure, heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis and depression.

Due to the problems they encounter in the health care system, the U.S. patients are significantly more likely to forgo medical care. As much as 54 percent of the U.S. patients said the high costs determine them at some point to give up recommended medical care. 41 percent of the Americans surveyed said they spent more than $1,000 over the past year on out-of-pocket medical costs.

More than 30 percent of the questioned American patients said they were given the wrong medication or dosage or were the subjects of a medical error.

At the antipode, the patients in the Netherlands had the fewest complaints regarding the health care system in their country.