Payviders feel the pain of $68 Billion cost of falls

The total medical cost of falls is currently $67.7 billion per year and is projected to reach $100 billion per year by 2028.  This economic pain is driven by the increasing quantity and growing cost per fall. The number of Americans age 65 and older is growing, which is contributing to increasing number of falls, associated injuries, and associated costs. Healthcare costs and expenditures are also increasing. Though increasing fall rates may be partly due to more accurate reporting on true causes of death, that fact would indicate that we have been underestimating the true cost of falls in years past.

If Payviders do not take effective action to prevent falls of the patients under their care, they will be the ones bearing the financial burden of this rapidly rising medical cost of falls. Payviders on capitation models are focused on per member per month costs, and falls are currently costing about $104 pmpm given the current population of 54.1 million seniors. Payviders are uniquely positioned to address the problem of falling because unlike typical providers, Payviders are incentivized to prevent falls not only from a quality-of-care standpoint but also from a cost standpoint.

Payviders can reduce costs through effective fall prevention

Payviders are in great need of targeted, personalized fall prevention interventions, because just 10.8% of patients account for all fall costs. Identifying these patients and intervening before a costly fall is paramount. Personal risk factors of falling include intrinsic factors, like strength and balance deficits, and external factors, like medications. For effective fall prevention, healthcare providers need to come up with an individualized treatment plan for each patient’s risk factors. This comprehensive evaluation would include asking patients questions to understand their risk factors, as well as physical tests such as a balance or gait evaluation.

Patients at high risk of falling may also benefit from remote monitoring of their balance and fall risk. This way, the Payviders can ensure that the prescribed intervention (such as an exercise plan or physical therapy) is proving effective for improving balance and reducing fall risk.

New fall risk assessment scale can identify patients at risk

The ZIBRIO Stability scale is the fall prevention solution Payviders need. Screening patients for fall risk at their regular checkup on ZIBRIO Stability scale takes 60 just seconds. The scale gives patients a fall risk categorization score. Those scoring in the high-risk zone are 3X more likely to experience a fall in the next 12 months.* Physicians can use ZIBRIO’s BalanceCare software for targeted counseling and interventions. By providing these services to patients, Payviders can take immediate action to reduce falls in their overall population.

To learn more about ZIBRIO’s targeted, personalized fall prevention solutions for Payviders, download our case study to see what a leading clinical practice learned when they adopted ZIBRIO technology for fall-risk assessment:

Want to learn more how ZIBRIO might help your practice? Schedule a 20 minute 1-on-1 zoom demo and get all your questions answered:

*Forth KE, Wirfel KL, Adams SD, Rianon NJ, Lieberman Aiden E and Madansingh SI (2020) A Postural Assessment Utilizing Machine Learning Prospectively Identifies Older Adults at a High Risk of Falling. Front. Med. 7:591517. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2020.591517