Healthcare Spending, Patient Traffic Rebounding After Three Year Decline

Spending on physician services increased 3.5 percent in the second quarter of 2011, compared to the same quarter in 2010, indicating that spending may be rebounding despite recent studies noting a decline in patient traffic, according to an American Medical News report.

The Thomson Reuters Healthcare Spending Index for Private Insurance, released Nov. 29, found that spending was up 1 percent from the first quarter of 2011. The annual rate was below the overall per-capita growth in health expenses of 4.3 percent. Insurers and patients spent 6.4 percent more for hospital care and 0.9 percent more for prescription drugs.

Several recent surveys have found that physician office visits have been declining. A Kaiser Family Foundation study released Nov. 15 found that insured patients visited physicians 17 percent less than in the previous two years.

Despite this study, the healthcare spending index indicates that patient traffic is increasing after a three-year decline.

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