A December 2016 Issue Brief from the Commonwealth Fund reports that the U.S. healthcare system is not meeting the complex needs of high-need patients, many of whom have unaddressed behavioral health and social issues. The Fund’s survey of high-need patients found that increased access to care and better patient-provider communication could improve outcomes.
The most recent National Scorecard on Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HACs) reports a 21 percent decline in HACs from 2010 to 2015. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimates that, as a result, 125,000 lives and $28 billion in healthcare costs have been saved.