The law of diminishing returns. MGH's Inpatient Mortality Rate (Brown) and Adjusted Cost per Patient Who Was Discharged Alive (in 2010 MGH's Inpatient Mortality Rate (Brown) and Adjusted Cost per Patient Who Was Discharged Alive (in 2010 Dollars; Blue), 1821–2010. Dollars; Blue), 1821–2010. The law of diminishing returns. MGH's Inpatient Mortality Rate (Brown) and Adjusted Cost per Patient Who Was Discharged Alive (in 2010 Dollars; Blue), 1821–2010. Seems to be characterized by diminishing returns, with growth in costs far outpacing reductions in inpatient mortality. Treatment of severely ill patients with increasingly complex conditions contributes to this phenomenon, but that fact does little to mitigate the reality that for the first time, improvements in inpatient mortality may be coming at unsustainable increases in cost. Close examination of our past clarifies just how daunting is the challenge we face today Meyer GS et al. N Engl J Med 2012;366:2147-2149.

Does more $ per capita improve care?