BOSTON, Jun 3, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Most in healthcare agree preventative
medicine saves money, but U.S. researchers developed a "return on investment
calculator" to measure the savings.
The research team developed an algorithm that calculates a return on investment
ratio, thereby quantifying the value of mobile healthcare to the overall
healthcare system.
To help test the calculator, the researchers used the Family Van, a program of
the Harvard Medical School, a mobile clinic providing preventative healthcare
and education to poor areas throughout Boston.
First author Nancy Oriol, dean of students at Harvard Medical School and of Beth
Israel Deaconess Medical Center said the van provides screening, testing and
education in areas such as nutrition, weight management, diabetes, heart
disease, pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The goal is to train and
educate people in taking the steps to prevent or better manage chronic disease.
"People talk about the value of preventative measures all the time, but no one
has ever really captured the important contribution of the many non-traditional
prevention-based programs like the Family Van," Oriol said in a statement.
The study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, found that in the long run,
each dollar invested in the family van will return $36.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International