This site is focused upon efficiency as a contributing solution to the cost of providing healthcare services. Efficiency alone won’t carry all the water needed to address the cost of healthcare, but it will make a profound difference in the scope and amount of services provided per dollar spent. Last year I began a study based up some data going back over two centuries. In the early 19th century, over 80% of the US population was involved in agriculture…. they were farmers. By the beginning of the 20th century, that percent fell to 40%, and by the beginning of this century it fell to below 2%. This astounding increase in per worker productivity freed people to go into manufacturing at the beginning of the 20th century, leading to an amazingly robust century of innovation and improvements in the quality of life.
In 2008 I began looking into capital investment in heatlhcare as compared to other industries and found some interesting results. As expensive as healthcare has become, investments into improving the efficiency of the labor that provides those services has been poor. Per worker capital investment in healthcare is about 35% lower than it is in general manufacturing. How can we hope to lower the cost and expand the availability of healthcare if we insist on providing those services the same way they’ve always been done?
A more detailed explanation is available here until I hear: Improving Labor Efficiency in Healthcare.
