User:Claricef/sandbox

intended edits for "healthcare in the us"

Hospitalizations: (update)

current paragraph:

A study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found that there were 38.6 million hospital stays in the United States in 2011, up 11% since 1997. Since the population was also growing, the hospitalization rate remained stable at approximately 1,200 stays per 10,000 population during this period. Hospital stays in 2011 averaged 4.5 days and cost an average of $10,400 per stay.

new updated version:

According to a statistical brief by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), there were 35.7 million hospitalizations in 2016, a significant decrease from the 38.6 million in 2011. For every 1,000 in the population, there was an average of 104.2 stays and each stay averaged $11,700, an increase from the $10,400 cost per stay in 2012. 7.6% of the population had overnight stays in 2017, each stay lasting and average of 4.6 days.

Healthcare provider employment in the United States: (rewrite/word as objective not as subjective) current:

A large demographic shift in the United States is putting pressure on the medical system as "baby boomers" reach retirement age. The demographic shift to an older population is projected to increase medical spending in North America by at least 5%, creating a funding challenge that the government (through medicare and other social services), insurance companies, and individual savings accounts will strain to absorb.

edited version:

A major impending demographic shift in the United States will require the healthcare system to provide more care, as the older population is predicted to increase medical expenses by 5% or more in North America due to the "baby boomers" reaching retirement age. Moreover, the overall spending on health care has increased since the late 1990s, and not just due to general price raises as the rate of spending is growing faster than the rate of inflation.

keep rest of paragraph starting with "The expenditure..."

The expenditure on health services for people over 45 years old is 8.3 times the maximum of that of those under 45 years old. Finally, the older population is rapidly increasing demand for healthcare services despite the tight budgets and reduced workforce. All of these factors put pressure on wages and working conditions, with the majority of healthcare jobs seeing salary reductions between 2009 and 2011.

Alternative medicine: (update)

current:

Outside of the standard health care system, more and more people are seeking alternative treatment options. These treatments are defined as therapies generally not taught in medical school nor available in hospitals. They include herbs, massages, energy healing, homeopathy, and more. A national survey found that from 1990 to 1997, the use of at least one alternative therapy has increased from 33.8% to 42.1%. More recent studies concurred that about 40% of adults in 2007 used some form of Complementary and Alternative Medicine within the past year. Their reasons for seeking these alternative approaches included improving their well-being, engaging in a transformational experience, gaining more control over their own health, or finding a better way to relieve symptoms caused by chronic disease. They aim to treat not just physical illness but fix its underlying nutritional, social, emotional, and spiritual causes. Most users pay for these services out of pocket, as insurance tends to provide either partial or no coverage of most services. Total out of pocket costs in 1997 were estimated to be about $27.0 billion.

 edited: 

Other methods of medical treatment are being practiced more frequently than before. This field is labeled Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and are defined as therapies generally not taught in medical school nor available in hospitals. They include herbs, massages, energy healing, homeopathy, and, more recently popularized, cryotherapy, cupping, and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation or TMS. Common reasons for seeking these alternative approaches included improving their well-being, engaging in a transformational experience, gaining more control over their own health, or finding a better way to relieve symptoms caused by chronic disease. They aim to treat not just physical illness but fix its underlying nutritional, social, emotional, and spiritual causes. In a 2008 survey, it was found that 37% of hospitals in the U.S. offer at least one form of CAM treatment, the main reason being patient demand (84% of hospitals). Costs for CAM treatments average $33.9 with two-thirds being out-of-pocket, according to a 2007 statistical analysis. Moreover, CAM treatments covered 11.2% of total out-of-pocket payments on health care. During 2002 to 2008, spending on CAM was on the rise, but usage has since has plateaued to about 40% of adults in the U.S..