Effect of Reducing Falls on Long-Term Care Expenses: Final Design Report.

摘要

Expenditures on health care in the United States are rising rapidly and in 2002, reachedn$1.6 trillion or $5,440 per person; spending rose 8.5 percent in 2001 and 9.3 percent inn2002, contributing to a spike of 1.6 percentage points in the health share of grossndomestic product (GDP) since 2000. Much of the increase in spending is fueled byngrowth in the use of hospital care but there is also significant use of long-term caren(LTC) services such as nursing home and home health care. While accounting fornroughly 12 percent of the United States population, elders account for more than 30npercent of all health care costs. Therefore, when thinking about strategies to reducenhealth care costs through preventive care programs, a focus on elderly populations isnparticularly warranted.