SCHWARTZ HEALTHCARE-IT BLOG

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Though Twain had his doubts, marketers love statistics. So to help out healthcare IT marketers here are some stats from the Census Bureau, CMS and analysts.

The U.S. spent $2 trillion on healthcare, or $6,697 a person, in 2005.

Healthcare costs account for one-sixth of the economy, compared with one-tenth in the early 1980s.

In 2006, 61% of businesses offered health benefits to at least some employees, down from 69% in 2000.

Young adults are the most likely to be uninsured. Those between the ages of 18 and 34 account for 25% of the population, but 41% of those without insurance. Texas has the largest percentage of uninsured citizens (24.6%), followed by New Mexico and Florida. Can you say que?

According to Forrester Research, CDH enrollment will reach 12 million, or seven percent of the commercially insured market, in 2007.

Up to 98,000 Americans die each year from preventable medical mistakes they experience during hospitalization, according to the Institute of Medicine.                                                                          

Mistakes in healthcare are costly.  A wound infection costs $21,000 on average. A post-operative infection costs more than $25,000 and re-opening a surgical site will cost more than $36,000.  The Juran Institute and Midwest Business Group recently quantified the direct costs of health benefits for poor-quality care over $1,300 per employee per year with indirect costs of lost productivity from poor care at another $500 per employee per year. 

Posted by Shawn Whalen on January 12, 2007 at 5:39 PM
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