Medical image of the week: Medical administrative growth

It is generally agreed that healthcare costs are too high in the US. Although there has been considerable finger pointing, there is little doubt that administrative costs are far outpacing other healthcare costs. In ground-breaking work published in 1991, Woolhandler and Himmelstein (1) found that U...

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Main Authors: Robbins RA, Natt B
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Arizona Thoracic Society 2018-07-01
Series:Southwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.swjpcc.com/imaging/2018/7/18/medical-image-of-the-week-medical-administrative-growth.html
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author Robbins RA
Natt B
author_facet Robbins RA
Natt B
author_sort Robbins RA
collection DOAJ
description It is generally agreed that healthcare costs are too high in the US. Although there has been considerable finger pointing, there is little doubt that administrative costs are far outpacing other healthcare costs. In ground-breaking work published in 1991, Woolhandler and Himmelstein (1) found that US administrative health care costs increased 37% between 1983 and 1987. They estimated these costs accounted for nearly a quarter of all health care expenditures. They followed their 83-87 report by examining data from 1999 (2). US administrative costs had risen to 31% of US health care expenditures. Himmelstein now estimates that administrative costs may now account for up to 40% of healthcare costs (Robbins RA, personal communication). The trend is perhaps best illustrated by Figure 1 showing growth of administrators compared to physicians from 1970-2010 (3).
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spelling doaj.art-be4f826d18164bd2b83a175fff060ae22022-12-22T03:00:14ZengArizona Thoracic SocietySouthwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care2160-67732018-07-01171353510.13175/swjpcc087-18Medical image of the week: Medical administrative growthRobbins RA0Natt B1Phoenix Pulmonary and Critical Care Research and Education Foundation, Gilbert, AZ USAUniversity of Arizona, Tucson, AZ USAIt is generally agreed that healthcare costs are too high in the US. Although there has been considerable finger pointing, there is little doubt that administrative costs are far outpacing other healthcare costs. In ground-breaking work published in 1991, Woolhandler and Himmelstein (1) found that US administrative health care costs increased 37% between 1983 and 1987. They estimated these costs accounted for nearly a quarter of all health care expenditures. They followed their 83-87 report by examining data from 1999 (2). US administrative costs had risen to 31% of US health care expenditures. Himmelstein now estimates that administrative costs may now account for up to 40% of healthcare costs (Robbins RA, personal communication). The trend is perhaps best illustrated by Figure 1 showing growth of administrators compared to physicians from 1970-2010 (3).http://www.swjpcc.com/imaging/2018/7/18/medical-image-of-the-week-medical-administrative-growth.htmlmedical administrationmedical administratorsadministrationhealthcarecostsadministratorspercent costsgraphHimmelsteintrend
spellingShingle Robbins RA
Natt B
Medical image of the week: Medical administrative growth
Southwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care
medical administration
medical administrators
administration
healthcare
costs
administrators
percent costs
graph
Himmelstein
trend
title Medical image of the week: Medical administrative growth
title_full Medical image of the week: Medical administrative growth
title_fullStr Medical image of the week: Medical administrative growth
title_full_unstemmed Medical image of the week: Medical administrative growth
title_short Medical image of the week: Medical administrative growth
title_sort medical image of the week medical administrative growth
topic medical administration
medical administrators
administration
healthcare
costs
administrators
percent costs
graph
Himmelstein
trend
url http://www.swjpcc.com/imaging/2018/7/18/medical-image-of-the-week-medical-administrative-growth.html
work_keys_str_mv AT robbinsra medicalimageoftheweekmedicaladministrativegrowth
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