Figure of the day (2)

In 2008 the 5% of the population with the highest health care expenses accounted for 47.5% of total health care spending.

On the other hand, the 50% of the population with the lowest expenses only accounted for 3.1% of total health care spending.

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation
http://facts.kff.org/chart.aspx?ch=1344

Preventing NCD for US $1.20 per person per year

The WHO just published a report investigating low-cost interventions to prevent non communicable diseases and/or lessen the economic impact of NCDs. I find it interesting and encouraging that the recommendation span both individual intervention such as screening but also large-scale population-based interventions (e.g. action against tobacco use or campaigns for better nutrition).

Expert Comment - Part 2

On September 16 I blogged about an expert comment by Dr Sudeep Chand of Chatham House about the UN meeting on non-communicable diseases. In a follow-up he assesses the outcomes of the meeting.

Unfortunately, it seems a chance was missed to address the global challenge of health in a global, coordinated way: "There is little in the declaration that is specific on international cooperation or coordination. [...] Health system development, the regulation of industry, and key interventions across sectors such as education, environment, agriculture, and transport remain areas for intervention at the national level."

Competition in health care

Interesting article in the Guardian about what competition means in health care:

"Competition is the supreme example of waste in health services. Private health and health insurance systems generate enormous transaction costs."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/09/nhs-nightmare-choice-competition

The human side

I just found this blog entry about how google's automatic archiving of chats unintentionally created a history of the relationship between a women and her terminally ill boyfriend - a powerful reminder what health services are ultimately about: people.

Submitted

I am done - last Friday I handed in my PhD thesis. As you can see from the wordle, it focused on design, services, processes and knowledge :)

I will stay in Cambridge for a bit longer to write publications (to tell the world what I found out about design, services, processes and knowledge) and hopefully implement some of my findings in the Cambridge and Peterborough Foundation Trust.