GRAPHIC: Medical Implants Trending Younger

Below is a fascinating graphic featured recently in the Star Tribune. From 2000-2010, the preponderance of pacemakers as well as artificial hips and knees have all increased across every age group. To me, this doesn’t say that people are living more dangerously with more chance of injury or heart disease. Rather, I see two messages here:  (1) medical science is making tremendous advancements, allowing patients to maintain active lifestyles and live more comfortably with implantable devices; and (2) with that astounding growth, it’s never been more important to have a comprehensive approach to managing implantable medical device surgeries so that patients, surgeons, surgical facilities and device manufacturers have clear visibility into device effectiveness and cost.  This graphic is both a window into innovation and changing times, as well as a call to action to get our arms around the fastest-growing segment of surgical costs.