PRACTITIONER APPLICATION: Population Health Initiatives Among Hospitals: Associated Hospital Characteristics

摘要

Readers of the article by Atkins et al. should be reminded that the American hospitals of today evolved from the almshouses of the past, where indigent people who were debilitated with chronic disease or dying with no family support received care. As science progressed and more could be done, hospitals developed into institutions that treated acute disease, performed restorative surgery, and provided a safe place for childbirth. Preventive care and the management of chronic disease were in the purview of physicians and their office practice. Most local jurisdictions eschewed health planning, so the U.S. healthcare “system” grew up without any real organizing function.