Reducing the need and demand for medical care: implications for quality management and outcome improvement.
Reduction in medical need (illness burden) and demand (variability in resource use) can improve health, reduce medical care costs, and move us toward the goal of becoming a healthy society. Health promotion, redefined, works to enhance individual autonomy. The underlying conceptual bases and the abundant empiric documentation of the effectiveness of need and demand reduction are summarized here.
Fries
J F
JF
Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D003363:Cost Control / Q000379:methods; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000592:standards; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006300:Health Services Misuse; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010358:Patient Participation; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D017749:Total Quality Management; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology