Health Affairs, 28, no. 5 (2009): 1554-1555 doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.28.5.1554-a © 2009 by Project HOPE	New Online   Senate Health Reform Bill   Rewarding Providers   Public Option Policy Brief   Health Reform & Abortion   Delivery System Reform

This Article Full Text (HTML) Reprint (PDF) Submit a response to this article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Comments are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Personal Archive Download to Citation Manager Reprints & Permissions Google Scholar Articles by Kottke, T. E. Articles by Isham, G. J. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kottke, T. E. Articles by Isham, G. J.

Letters

Does Prevention Save Money?

If one only scanned the table of contents of the Jan/Feb 09 issue and saw Ron Goetzel’s title, "Do Prevention or Treatment Save Money? The Wrong Debate," and Louise Russell’s title, "Preventing Chronic Disease: An Important Investment, but Don’t Count on Cost Savings," one might conclude that providing preventive services necessarily increases the cost of health care. Within these two papers, however, lies the evidence for a disease prevention strategy that can both improve health and reduce the need for health services.

If one focuses on interventions that preserve health (for example, immunizations and lifestyle interventions) rather than those that . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Thomas E. Kottke, Nicolaas P. Pronk and George J. Isham
HealthPartners, Minneapolis, Minnesota

                      What's this?