ABSTRACT
In the early to mid 1980s, acute hospital (inpatient) care started shifting to ambulatory (outpatient) care, largely for cost reasons. With this shift came the practice of discharging patients from the hospital sooner and the rise of home health care. In the mid 1980s and early 1990s, health care costs, especially hospital costs, rose at unprecedented rates in the United States. Despite the rising cost of health care, the quality of health was less than in many other developed countries spending less money on health care.
