State Senator Mary Ann Handley
August 6, 2008
Handley and Harp, Medical Experts Detail Healthcare Savings to Taxpayers
Study Shows Healthier Seniors and Millions Saved
State Senators Mary Ann Handley (D-Manchester) and Toni N. Harp (D-New Haven) the Senate Chairs of the Public Health and Appropriations Committees, respectively, met with reporters this morning to highlight significant savings in state healthcare costs and improved health among the state’s senior citizens as a result of a new state law.
The senators were joined by Dr. Dorothy Baker, a research scientist from the Yale University School of Medicine, whose recently published study documents how fall prevention initiatives, like the one enacted last year at the urging of Senators Handley and Harp, reduced the number of falls among seniors and saved millions of dollars in related healthcare costs.
“From a clinical and public health perspective, the 11 percent relative reduction in the use of fall-related medical services . . . translated into approximately 1,800 fewer emergency department visits or hospital admissions,” Dr. Baker wrote. “In addition to discomfort and disability averted, this decrease represents a potential savings of more than $21 million in health care costs on the basis of an average acute care cost of $12,000 per event.”
The results of Dr. Baker’s study were published in the July 17, 2008 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. She said additional information about the topic is available at the following Web site address: http://www.ct.gov/dph/cwp/view.asp?a=3137&q=400094.
“We know intuitively that in healthcare, money spent on prevention efforts and early diagnosis and treatment pays dividends later by saving more expensive treatment later,” Senator Handley said. “It’s extremely gratifying to have these study results to document the return on this type of healthcare investment.”
Senator Harp said, “Since more than half of these patients are subsequently discharged to formal rehabilitation settings, there are additional savings to be realized in that regard if we can minimize the incidence of these falls.”
Download a fact sheet on falls among seniors.
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