In a presentation during Becker’s ASC Review’s 12th Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference + the Future of Spine, June 14 in Chicago, Linda Van Horn, president and CEO of 21st Century Edge Consulting discussed the role data and evidence-based medicine will have in the future of healthcare.
“In the U.S. today, we spend $2.9 trillion on healthcare, and we will spend $4.9 trillion by 2020,” said Ms. Van Horn. “And for all that money we’re spending, we’re not getting any better value.”
Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter defined value in healthcare as outcome divided by cost. Data analytics and evidence-based care decisions are the crucial ingredients to devise personalized, proven treatment plans that reduce unnecessary tests and procedures, said Ms. Van Horn.
Because about 5 percent of patients account for 46 percent of healthcare dollars spent, using a data-driven approach to both identify and then engage with this high-risk, high-cost population is one of the most effective tools to reduce overall healthcare costs, she said.
Getting patients, especially the costliest 5 percent, is the “blockbuster drug” that will improve healthcare value in the U.S., said Ms. Van Horn.
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