Class 9 – AGING BABY BOOMER ISSUES

From a provider’s perspective, there has been a change in the United State’s health care delivery system over the years.  Before the 1980’s, hospitals were in the business to “fill beds” and then as managed care grew, and hospitals entered into risk-sharing contracts with per diems and capitation, the method of delivering care changed.  For example, instead of having inpatient services, many hospitals and physician groups created outpatient services, ambulatory care centers, and neighborhood clinics.  However, some are predicting that with the aging baby boomers that the need for hospital beds will once again change.

Baby-boomers population high cost, high healthcare users are approaching the age where historically, the U.S. has spent the majority of its health care resources.  People over age 45 consume 90% of the U.S. health care dollar with two-thirds of that total being spent on those over the age 65.

Some say that hospitals in the United States  will soon face an inpatient bed shortage.  Since 1980 there has been a downward trend in inpatient statistics.  Between 1980 and 1997, the number of beds in U.S. community hospitals declined by 24% with a similar reduction in length of stay (LOS) of 19%.

Also, some say that hospital rooms will get bigger with a  minimum of 150 square feet per patient room being the benchmark.  Also, consider how patient rooms may become “smarter” with in-wall analyzers to provide instantaneous biofeedback on the patient’s condition.

Monitoring is already getting more universal and compact.  Consider, as described in Popular Science, a “lab on a chip” a wristwatch-sized device measures infection counts and reports them to a computer will inform physician and staff when critical numbers are moving out of range.