There continues to be much focus on healthcare spending in the U.S.  Earlier this month The Atlantic published an article highlighting a recent report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which attempts to measure demographic influence on healthcare spending.  This study offers the ultimate finding that nearly 50% of the nation’s healthcare spending is generated by 5% of the population.

I wanted Buxton to take a look beyond this demographic explanation.  To do so we employed a customer analytic methodology to identify which types of households are making the greatest overall contribution to the nation’s healthcare spending.

The key finding in the chart below – that less than 25% of the U.S. households account for nearly 50% of the spending for healthcare services - supports DHHS findings.

How is this customer analytic approach to healthcare important?  By adopting a patient-as-customer household analytic approach, Buxton is able to pinpoint - down to the address - that small subset of specific household types which  account for the majority of U.S. healthcare spending.  When it becomes possible to pinpoint a patient base a healthcare organization is able to more efficiently and effectively allocate and market its healthcare services and deliver both better health, and business outcomes.