• The 2000 census reported 35.3 million people over 65, which was 12 percent of the population. The first baby boomers will be 65 in 2011, the remaining through the year 2025. During that time, the rate of increase in those turning 65 will outstrip the rate of increase of the general population by three to four times.
• Over 50 percent of baby boomer doctor visits in 2001 were for high blood pressure, arthritis, or diabetes.
• There is a one in two chance that a person over 50 will have a heart catheterization and a one in ten chance of undergoing coronary bypass surgery.
• Those over 50 have a one in six chance of having a stroke.
• 30 to 40% of people over 40 are not computer savvy and need a resource to aid in their healthcare.

• Patients who take an active role in their healthcare have better outcomes.
• People will need to take more responsibility for their own care given the state of the medical system today.
• The Savvy Patient Health Record System provides the tools.

• 78.5 million baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964 and are now between the ages of 42 and 60, 25 million of these are caring for elderly parents in their 70s and 80s.
• Of the estimated 25 million caregivers, 70 percent are between the ages of 40 and 59; approximately 81 percent are women.
• The average caregiver is a 46-year-old woman working outside the home who also spends 18 hours per week caring for her mother.
• One half of baby boomers still have children at home; one quarter of them are caring for an older adult.
• Caregivers / advocates need the tools in this book to help them track the healthcare of their loved ones. It will also enable others to share the responsibility with them.

• A 1999 study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimates up to 100,000 people die and roughly another half million are seriously injured each year due to hospital errors. Costs to the nation are approximately $37.6 million, with $17 million associated with preventable errors.
• One study revealed 13.6 percent of doctor visits were missing test results and other documents; 44 percent of patients were adversely affected; and 59.5 percent received delayed care or duplicate services, adding cost to the system (Journal of the American Medical Association [JAMA], February 2005).
• A National Patient Safety Foundation national poll revealed 42 percent of respondents had been affected by a medical error either personally or through a friend or relative. Of that, 32 percent reported permanent negative effects on their health.
• The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHQR) cites research that shows the majority of medical errors are preventable; 70 percent of adverse events found in 1,133 medical records were preventable, 6 percent potentially preventable, and 24 percent not preventable.
• A study of adverse drug events among ambulatory older people reported 27.6 percent were preventable; 58.4 percent of the 27.6 percent occurred at the prescribing stages (JAMA, March 2003).
• Studies show the majority of medical errors are preventable. Every patient and caregiver has the ability to prevent preventable medical errors. This book teaches them how.

• If 10,000 people saved just $100 per year by having one less lab test and / or one less doctor visit $1 million dollars would be cut from medical costs. Millions of dollars can be saved when people do their part to prevent errors.

You can be part of the solution by carrying and promoting the use of this book.