Eubanks P
Hospitals. 1990 Mar 20;64(6):42-6.
If demographic predictions are right, the chronic care patient population will have a significant effect on future health care delivery systems. As baby-boomers age and become debilitated with chronic disease and conditions, and as premature babies and young trauma and chronic disease victims survive with increased disability, acute care hospital administrators will have to focus more attention on these patients. But what is this patient population like? One of the steps to understanding the chronic care market is to form a realistic profile of these patients, say executives. They are not all elderly, and they are not all near death. But they are savvy consumers who demand high-quality, patient-centered care.
如果人口统计学预测准确无误，慢性病患者群体将对未来的医疗保健提供系统产生重大影响。随着婴儿潮一代步入老年，身患慢性病和各种疾病而变得虚弱，以及早产儿、年轻创伤患者和慢性病患者带着日益增加的残疾存活下来，急症护理医院的管理人员将不得不把更多注意力放在这些患者身上。但这群患者是怎样的呢？企业高管们表示，了解慢性病护理市场的步骤之一是勾勒出这些患者的真实概况。他们并非都是老年人，也并非都濒临死亡。但他们是精明的消费者，要求提供高质量的、以患者为中心的护理。
