MHA Press Room

MFA reports increase in medical fitness centers

The latest survey by the Medical Fitness Association identifies more than 950 medical fitness and wellness centers in the U.S. and internationally, up from 875 in 2006. The survey results are reported in Benchmarks for Success 2008, available for purchase at www.medicalfitness.org.

Report: Baby boomers will demand more of health care

The number of U.S. residents over age 65 will nearly triple between 1980 and 2030 as America's "baby boomers" age, placing new demands on the nation’s health care system, according to a report released May 8 by the American Hospital Association. Containing analysis by First Consulting Group, the report estimates that six in 10 boomers - more than 37 million people - will be managing more than one chronic condition by 2030.

It projects that one in four boomers will have diabetes, almost half will have arthritis and more than one in three will be considered obese. By 2020, boomers will account for four in 10 physician office visits and an increasing proportion of hospitalizations.

During a press briefing on the report, AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock said, “Today’s report outlines a tidal wave of health needs. We will need a greater focus on wellness and prevention, new approaches to care delivery and a new look at the American health care system.” AARP CEO Bill Novelli agreed, saying that “a national commitment to improved health” is needed.

Pam Cross, a registered nurse at the Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans, VT, and Nancy Bitting, regional CEO and board chair for PeaceHealth’s Whatcom Region in Bellingham, WA, spoke about their hospitals’ efforts to improve health through chronic disease management and preventive programs.

[ via AHA News Now ]

Project finds mixed evidence regarding impact of hospital consolidation on price and quality

A report released March 1 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Synthesis Project concludes that “the balance of evidence” from past studies on hospital consolidation suggests it may raise prices and lower quality. However, the report also concludes that consolidating facilities may produce cost savings, and recommends further research to learn the effects of insurer market power on provider markets. Commenting on the report, Caroline Steinberg, American Hospital Association vice president for trends analysis, said, “Hospital consolidation pales in the face of the unprecedented consolidation in the nation’s health insurance industry, where double-digit profits underscore the fact that it’s the insurers that are in the driver's seat.”

[ via AHA News ]

Hospitalists on the rise

• About 12,000 hospitalists are practicing today, and the number is expected to grow to 25,000 by 2010, according to the Society of Hospital Medicine in Philadelphia. Most are trained as general internists.
• The average U.S. primary-care physician spends only 12 percent of his time with hospitalized patients, according to the society.
• In the first half of a two-year study conducted by the University of Chicago in 2002, patients cared for by hospitalists stayed in the hospital about one-third of a day less than those cared for by internists. By the second year, the difference increased to half a day, reducing costs by an average of $782 per patient. In the second year, short-term mortality (death during the first month or two following hospitalization) decreased by 37 percent.
• In a 2005 study conducted by Mt. Sinai Hospital, patients seen by hospitalists had a 16 percent reduced length of stay and reduced costs of over $700 per case, according to Dr. David Ansell, chairman of medicine at Mt. Sinai. This cost reduction was due to fewer unnecessary tests being ordered.

(statistics via The Chicago Tribune)