Forbes March 5, 2024
The U.S. health system focuses an enormous amount of money and attention on post-acute care—the medical treatment patients receive after they have been discharged from a hospital. But it would more cost-effective, and far better for patients, to refocus on what you might call pre-acute care: what the U.S. can do to prevent those hospitalizations in the first place.
Don’t like nursing homes? Worried about the ongoing nursing shortage? One solution: Reduce the medical crises that lead to hospitalizations and the inevitable need for follow-up skilled nursing care in facilities or at home.
Saving Billions
In 2021, Medicare spent $57 billion, or 8% of its total budget, on post-discharge care such as physical and occupational therapy and nursing. In 2017,...
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