Quality Improvement and the Healthcare Spending Slowdown

Healthcare spending increases have slowed significantly.   While some analysts argue that this is an effect of the recent recession, with consumers spending less money on health services, a major investment website says much of the reason for reduced spending lies with health providers’ quality improvements.

An analysis on the Motley Fool site makes the following points about factors leading to reduced healthcare spending.

•  Among Medicare patients, there were 70,000 fewer hospital readmissions in 2012 compared to 2011.  This drop generated approximately $150 million in savings for the Medicare program.
• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitals achieved a 41 percent reduction in central line-associated bloodstream infections between 2008 and 2011, leading to an estimated savings of $26,000 per case.
• Multiple studies showed that the increasing number of physicians and hospitals utilizing electronic health records provided significantly-improved quality of care.

The article also noted that the increased use of defined-benefit, consumer-directed health plans is leading Americans to become better healthcare shoppers.