nearly half of a primary care physician’s time is spent on documentation and follow-up, outside the examination room without the patient present.

In Sweden, for example, health services are procured by locally elected county councils that have flexibility within their mandate to provide evidence-based care at the county level. At the same time, the county councils are largely responsible for social services and general welfare as well, theoretically enabling greater coordination and more

There, a registered nurse performs checkups, reviews medications, and provides clients with education on caring for themselves independently once they leave OPCC. When she changes wound dressings, for instance, she does so with an eye toward instruction, hoping that clients will be better equipped to care for themselves the next time around. She is

The increased health care costs for people who are obese compared with those who are not is between $3,000 and $5,000 per year.45 Extrapolated to the state, obesity is associated with an average of an additional $4.2 billion in health care costs per year that is attributable to Mississippi’s obesity epidemic.

For instance, experts assert that the vast majority of health gains in the last century have been due to environmental, economic, and social circumstances, with only 10 percent of all gains attributed to medical care.

Furthermore, the use of technology often benefits medical professionals amid a population that believes the greater use of technology may improve their health outcomes, particularly if that technology is paid for by insurance plans.

The scientific literature estimates that at least 60 percent of premature deaths, for instance, are caused by nonmedical factors.3 Researchers have estimated that the health returns on education increase the value of educational investments by between 15 and 55 percent.

This sum of spending is what might be called the national investment in health.

As one turn-of-the-century American physician put it, “Just plain advice was never productive of revenue unless fortified by a few pills.”