In other words, we must do what we can to keep people from needing our acute services in the first place. Significantly, more people used those terms than medical measures like low rates of infant mortality, cancer or heart disease. Violence is one of the upstream causes having a major impact on health care costs. He argues that these problems inflate America's healthcare bill well beyond what other industrialized countries spend. Direct medical costs associated with violence are one major factor.
Assaults outpace auto accidents as causes of fatal injuries in nine states.
This grim picture led the American Medical Association to call violence a public health emergency. The Fairview Health System takes very seriously our community health responsibility to address upstream causes and our commitment to address the problem of violence. As one of the nation's largest providers of mental health and chemical dependency services, Fairview treats both victims and perpetrators. Increasingly however, we are involved with initiatives to prevent violence. Womankind, a Fairview program, is regarded nationally as a model for effective healthcare intervention in domestic abuse.