The cost of treatment continues to grow, but the quality does not increase
The modern healthcare system is not worth the money that goes into its maintenance
ABC Magazine based on Medical Xpress materials: Analysis tracks how health care value has changed over 200 yearsA unique analysis of the ratio of the effectiveness of treatment and health care costs over the past 2 centuries was conducted by American scientists based on the archives of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
By charting the mortality rate of inpatient patients and the annual costs per discharged patient (all amounts were converted into dollars in 2010) for the period from the opening of the hospital in 1821 to the present day, researchers led by Dr. Gregg Meyer (Gregg Meyer) were able to identify certain trends in the development of American healthcare.
Based on changes in treatment prices and mortality rates, as well as their ratio, scientists have identified four stages in the development of American medicine.
The first, which lasted from 1821 to 1910, is characterized by stable monetary costs per inpatient (approximately $ 1,000) and unstable mortality rates reflecting periods of epidemics and breakthroughs in medical care.
In the next period (from 1911 to 1960), prices begin to rise and the death rate to fall, but changes in these indicators are relatively slow. In the third period (from 1961 to 2000), due to the emergence of such systems as voluntary (private) health insurance, healthcare costs continue to increase, but they do it sharply, which is accompanied by a significant decrease in the mortality rate (by 2 deaths per 1000 patients).
Since 2001, the fourth period begins, in which prices continue to rise rapidly, but there are no serious changes in mortality rates.
Graph from an article in NEJM – VM
Thus, scientists conclude that the last 10 years of financial investments in the field of healthcare are ineffective in terms of costs and benefits.
Despite the fact that due to research and educational activities, MGH is more expensive than most American hospitals, the trends identified by scientists are confirmed by similar data from other hospitals. For more information about the results of the study, see the New England Journal of Medicine (Meyer et al., Two Hundred Years of Hospital Costs and Mortality – MGH and Four Eras of Value in Medicine).
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru08.06.2012