8 SEPTEMBER 2023IN MY OPINIONOver the past 30 years, the US healthcare system has implemented numerous quality initiatives to improve the population's health. While progress has been made in certain areas, such as reducing smoking and improving screening rates for certain types of cancer, general health outcomes in the US have not significantly improved. In fact, life expectancy at birth in the US has decreased in recent years. Chronic disease prevalence in the United States is higher than in many other developed countries. For example, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 6 in 10 adults in the United States have a chronic disease, and 4 in 10 have two or more chronic conditions. As a result, the total national health expenditures over 29 years (1990-2019) have increased by more than five-fold.Unfortunately, chronic disease prevalence in the United States has been increasing continuously. For example, the prevalence of obesity in the United States has been growing steadily over the past few decades. According to data from the CDC, the prevalence of obesity among adults in the United States was 30.5% in 1999-2000 and had increased to 42.4% by 2017-2018.The nation's challenge is the unsustainable HC cost on the national economy and the declining healthy youth for a productive life as the next generation in the labor force. According to a 2018 report from the Council for a Strong America, about 71% of young adults in the United States Transition to whole-person care by addressing SDOH & prevention to improve population healthBy Frank Song, Senior Director, Healthcare Informatics, IEHPFrank Song
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