Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
J Gen Intern Med. 2018 Mar;33(3):367-369. doi: 10.1007/s11606-017-4257-x. Epub 2017 Dec 22.
The United States is facing a significant demographic transition, with about 10,000 baby boomers turning age 65 each day. At the same time, the nation is experiencing a similarly striking transition in hospital capacity, as the supply of hospital beds has declined in recent decades. The juxtaposition of population aging and hospital capacity portends a potentially widening divergence between supply and demand for hospital care. We provide a closer look at current hospital capacity and a rethinking of the future role of hospital beds in meeting the needs of an aging population.
美国正面临重大的人口结构转变,每天约有 1 万名婴儿潮世代的人年满 65 岁。与此同时,美国的医院容量也在经历同样显著的转变,因为近年来医院床位供应减少。人口老龄化和医院容量的并置预示着医院护理的供需之间可能会出现更大的差距。我们更仔细地研究了当前的医院容量,并重新思考了医院床位在满足老龄化人口需求方面的未来作用。