“ For many years and in countless articles, physicians have been the scapegoat for rising health care costs in the United States. In fact, they have been blamed by many critics for the United States, leading the world in health care expenditures. In the January/February 2013 issue of Missouri Medicine, we saw a close examination of the data that indicates that this blame is misplaced – that delving into key components in health care spending reveals something else. While there is general disagreement among the so-called experts as to the degree of impact of each component, almost everyone seems to agree that new technology – not physicians – is number one on the list of contributors to rising health care costs. In this issue of Missouri Medicine, the Physicians Foundation examined data on the leading key components and found that chronic disease conditions, lifestyle – including obesity and addictions, administrative expenses, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, mandated insurance benefits, aging, end-of-life care, defensive medicine, and health disparities have all had anywhere from a moderate to significant impact on rising overall health care costs. In the final section, entitled “Interesting Statistics about the U.S. Health Care System”, we examine why infant mortality rates can be a poor indicator of the success or failure of a health care system. The same applies to life expectancy statistics. Issues such as medical innovation also need to be considered in the general discussion of a health care system’s success or failure” ( Norbeck, 2013 ).
Research topic
“ While there is general disagreement among the so-called experts as to the degree of impact of each component, almost everyone seems to agree that new technology – not physicians – is number one on the list of contributors to rising health care costs” ( Norbeck, 2013 ).
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Participants
“… including obesity and addictions, administrative expenses, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, mandated insurance benefits, aging, end-of-life care, defensive medicine, and health disparities have all had anywhere from a moderate to a significant impact on rising overall health care costs” ( Norbeck, 2013 ).
Methods
“… the Physicians Foundation examined data on the leading key components and found that chronic disease conditions, lifestyle….”( Norbeck, 2013 ).
Results
“… obesity and addictions, administrative expenses, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, mandated insurance benefits, aging, end-of-life care, defensive medicine, and health disparities have all had anywhere from a moderate to a significant impact on rising overall health care costs” ( Norbeck, 2013 ).
Data analysis
“ Interesting Statistics about U.S. Health Care System, we examine why infant mortality rates can be a poor indicator of the success or failure of a health care system. The same applies to life expectancy statistics” ( Norbeck, 2013 ).
Conclusion
“… defensive medicine and health disparities have all had anywhere from a moderate to a significant impact on rising overall health care costs” ( Norbeck, 2013 ).
I think the abstract is not entirely effective. The author does not provide a clear research topic to allow the reader to understand what the research is about until one continues to read to the introduction part. Also, there is no clear coverage of how the data will be analyzed in the study leaving the reader uncertain of the method of data analysis. There is also a lack of clear conclusion that sums up the results of the study, making it impossible to understand what conclusion was made about the rising healthcare costs. However, the abstract has covered the participants and results which identifies obesity and addictions, administrative expenses, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, mandated insurance benefits, aging, end-of-life care, defensive medicine and health disparities as the key drivers to rising healthcare costs.
Reference
Norbeck, T. B. (2013). Drivers of Health Care Costs: A Physicians Foundation White Paper-First of a Three-Part Series. Missouri Medicine , 110 (1), 30.
