Healthcare Factoids to Power Your Thinking

© 2014 Health Catalyst
www.healthcatalyst.com

Historically, the "Build it and they will
come" model was used in almost every
vertical during the late 1990s and early
2000s. More than 80% of those IT-directed
warehouses took three years
to fail, and were replaced by data marts
built to purpose by individual business
units.
In contrast, data warehouses
sponsored by business executives
exhibited a success rate of greater than
70%.
Source: Top Actions for Healthcare Delivery Organization CIOs, 2014: Avoid 25 Years of Mistakes in
Enterprise Data Warehousing. Gartner. Shaffer, Vi; Beyer, Mark A. February 10, 2014.
http://www.gartner.com/document/2664433

In 2009, the Institute of
Medicine estimated that
there was $765 billion in
avoidable costs in US
Health Care System.
Source: Institute of Medicine
http://resources.iom.edu/widgets/vsrt/hea
lthcare-waste.html

It is estimated that more than
three million preventable
serious adverse events occur
in hospitals annually, with over
half attributable to hospital-acquired
infections and
adverse drug events.
Source: Better U.S. Health Care at Lower Cost , 2013. Issues in Science and Technology. Milstein,
Arnold; Darling, Helen. http://issues.org/26-2/milstein/

Readmissions added $41.3 billion
in hospital costs in 2011 and 58%
of this costs stemmed from
Medicare patients.
Source: Statistical Brief #172. Agency For Healthcare Research and Quality, April 2014
http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb172-Conditions-Readmissions-Payer.pdf

53% of physicians said they would
order an unnecessary medical test
or procedure if the patient
insisted.
Source: American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, Choosing Wisely Survey, 2014.
http://www.choosingwisely.org/survey-physicians-are-aware-that-many-medical-tests-and-procedures-are-
unnecessary-see-themselves-as-solution/

True or false: Physicians who
see more than 100 patients
per week are more likely to
order a test even though it
might not be necessary
compared to those who saw
fewer than 100 patients per
week.
Answer: True.
Source: American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, Choosing Wisely Survey, 2014.
http://www.choosingwisely.org/survey-physicians-are-aware-that-many-medical-tests-and-procedures-are-
unnecessary-see-themselves-as-solution/

A new survey of older women in
the American Journal of
Preventive Medicine finds that
sitting for long stretches of time
increases the odds of an untimely
death.
And here’s the kicker: Even
women who exercised regularly
risked shortening their lifespan if
most of their daily hours were
sedentary ones.
Source: Too Much Sitting Linked to an Early Death, Watson, Stephanie; Executive Editor, Harvard
Women’s Health Watch http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/too-much-sitting-linked -to-an-early-death-
201401297004

Because of excessive and
unnecessary cancer screenings
common on patients 65 years and
older, an August 2014 JAMA study
of 27,404 patients recommends
that screenings not be given to
those with life expectancies of
less than 10 years.
Source: Many seniors get unnecessary and potentially harmful cancer tests
LeWine, Howard, M.D.; Chief Medical Editor Internet Publishing, Harvard Health Publications
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/unnecessary-cancer-screening-tests-201408197371

Heart surgery is being performed
today for $1,400 by a JCI
accredited organization.
Do you know where?
Answer:
Narayana Health,
Bangalore, India
Source: From The Heart: Healthcare Transformation From India To The Cayman Islands. Healthcare
Analytics Summit, Sept 25th 2014. http://hasummit.com/session/heart-healthcare-transformation-india-
cayman-islands/

In 2012, 47% of deaths were
attributed to heart disease and
cancer as the two leading causes.
Source: FastStats. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm

The under-5 mortality rate
worldwide has fallen by 49% since
1990. . .
Source: New Data Show Child Mortality Rates Falling Faster Than Ever. World Bank. Sept 16, 2014
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/09/16/new-data-child-mortality-rates-falling-faster

Image Source: Living on a Dollar a Day: The
Lives and Faces of the World’s Poor. Nazario,
Thomas A.; 2014
$8,233 was spent on healthcare
per person in the U.S. in 2012.
Worldwide in 2013, the median
annual household income was
$9,733. Today nearly a billion
people still make less than $1 a
day.
Source: Health Costs: How the U.S. Compares
With Other Countries. PBS NewsHour, Kane,
Jason; Oct 22, 2012.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/health-costs-
how-the-us-compares-with-other-countries/

The average median operating
margin at hospitals fell 2.2% per a
Moody’s investor survey of 448
U.S. hospitals in 2014. Expenses
increased at an annual rate of
4.6%
Source: Moody's: Not-for-profit hospital margins fall to 2.2%. Advisory Board. April 25,
2014.http://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2014/04/25/moodys-not-for-profit-hospital-margins-fall

In 1970, 7.2% of GDP was spent
on healthcare.
Pharmaceutical discoveries,
legislation allowing strong patent
protection, and HMOs were
marked changes over the next two
decades, contributing to the more
than 18% of GDP spent on
healthcare today.
Source: Health Care Costs: A Primer. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, May 01, 2012.
http://kff.org/health-costs/issue-brief/health-care-costs-a-primer/

In 2012, 50% of healthcare
spending was used to treat just
5% of the population.
Source: Health Care Costs: A Primer. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, May 01, 2012.
http://kff.org/health-costs/issue-brief/health-care-costs-a-primer/

Starting in the 1970’s, cardiac
care advances including “clot-buster”
drugs, angioplasty, beta-blocker
therapy, and stents led
to the overall mortality rate from
heart attack falling by almost
50% from 1980-2000.
Source: Snapshots: How Changes in Medical
Technology Affect Health Care Costs. Mar 2,
2007. Kaiser Family Foundation
http://kff.org/health-costs/issue-brief/
snapshots-how-changes-in-medical-technology-
affect/

Neonatal advances in the
1990’s helped decrease
mortality to one-third its 1950’s
level, with an overall increase
in life expectancy of about 12
years per low birth weight
baby.
Source: Snapshots: How Changes in Medical
Technology Affect Health Care Costs. Mar 2,
2007. Kaiser Family Foundation
http://kff.org/health-costs/issue-brief/
snapshots-how-changes-in-medical-technology-
affect/

A 2005 RAND report suggested
EHR’s could save U.S. healthcare
$81 billion a year.
A 2013 RAND study report told a
different story.
Evidence of significant savings is
scant and there is increasing
concern that electronic records
have actually added to costs by
making it easier to bill more for
services. Healthcare spending has
risen $800 billion since 2005
report was issued.
Source: In Second Look, Few Savings From Digital Health Records. New York Times. Abelson,
Reed; Creswell, Julie. January 10, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/11/business/electronic-records-
systems-have-not-reduced-health-costs-report-says.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

Dr. David J. Brailer, the United States’ first
healthcare information czar, said the
“colossal strategic error” that occurred (with
the EHR roll-out) was a result of the Obama
administration’s incentive program.
“The vast sum of stimulus money flowing in
to health information technology created a
‘race-to-adopt’ mentality – buy the systems
today to get government handouts, but figure
out how to make them work tomorrow.”
Source: In Second Look, Few Savings From Digital Health Records. New York Times. Abelson,
Reed; Creswell, Julie. January 10, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/11/business/electronic-records-
systems-have-not-reduced-health-costs-report-says.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

In 2010, Medicare spent $55
billion for doctor and hospital
bills during the last two
months of patients’ lives.
Source: The Cost of Dying.
CBS 60 Minutes. Aug 05, 2010
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-cost-of-
dying-end-of-life-care/

Mean annual Medicare
expenditures for the last 12
months of life in the elderly rose
from $1,924 in 1976 to
approximately $23,000 in 1995.
Source: Medical Expenditures during the Last Year of Life: Findings from the 1992–1996 Medicare
Current Beneficiary Survey. Health Services Research. Hoover, Donald R., Crystal, Stephen, Kumar,
Rizie, Sambamoorthi, Usha, Cantor, Joel C. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1464043/

The American Journal of Infection
Control research suggests that fist
bumps should replace hand
shakes due to a dramatic
decrease in the spread of
bacteria.
Source: Study: Fist bumps are less germy than handshakes USA Today. Painter, Kim. July 28, 2014
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/28/fistbump-handshake-germ-study/13170587/

By 2017/2018, current EHR’s will
be unrecognizable. By then we
expect an emerging crop of new
vendors to have successfully
challenged the status quo.”
Source: Second EHR Land Grab Just Over Horizon Domain Monitor EHR 2.0. Tholemeier, Rob.
January 2014. http://www.chilmarkresearch.com/wordpress/wp-content/
uploads/2014/01/EHR_LandGrab_Jan14-Monitor.pdf

Through 2017, 90% of the
information assets from big data
analytic efforts will be siloed and
unleverageable across multiple
business processes.
Source: Information Innovation Key Initiative Overview. Gartner. Laney, Douglas. April 22, 2014.
http://www.gartner.com/document/2715317

As of January 2014, only 160
hospitals (out of 5,723
registered in the US) reached
HIMSS stage 7, the top of the
adoption model measuring
hospital’s move to electronic
records. Stage 7 organizations
are also able to share patient
information electronically and
have advanced data analytics
capabilities.
Image Source: HIMSS
Analyticshttps://www.himssanalytics.org/emr
am/stage7award.aspx
Source: CIOs Share 7 Best Practices for Reaching HIMSS Stage 7 Becker’s Hospital Review.
Gregg, Helen, January 17, 2014.http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/
cios-share-7-best-practices-for-reaching-himss-stage-7.html

A growing number of buyers,
40%, are looking to replace
existing EHR systems, up from
30% at the same time last year.
Source: EHR Software BuyerView, 2014. Software Advice, Q1 2014 Survey
http://www.softwareadvice.com/medical/buyerview/report-2014/

The average ACO will risk $3.5
million before possible savings.
The National Association of
ACOs first national survey of the
2012 and 2013 Medicare ACOs
Source: The Average ACO Will Risk $3.5 Million Before Any Possible Savings. HIT Consultant,
Pennic, Jasmine. January 29, 2014
http://hitconsultant.net/2014/01/29/average-aco-will-risk-3-5-million-possible-savings/

22% of physicians surveyed in this
year are opting out of or
disregarding the meaningful use
program.
Source: EHR Report: 22% of Physicians are Disregarding Meaningful Use. Healthcare Informatics.
Leventhal, Rajiv. July 22, 2014. http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/news-item/ehr-report-22-
physicians-are-disregarding-meaningful-use

Link to original article for a more in-depth discussion.
Healthcare Factoids to Power Your Thinking
Paul Horstmeier brings 25 years of Fortune 500 and small business
operations and general management experience to Health Catalyst.
He co-founded HB Ventures and filled senior executive roles at HB
Ventures portfolio companies. Within Hewlett-Packard, Mr.
Horstmeier launched and grew three different businesses, including
co-founding HP's commercial e-commerce business which later
expanded to include the management of the data systems and
infrastructure for marketing operations across the company. As Vice
President of HP.com, he headed up a 700-person organization which
was awarded nearly every industry award for quality and innovation
during his tenure.

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