I'm looking for a reference to a common citation that is used when
disucssing healthcare $ consumption.  It's often stated that a small
percentage of patients consume a large percentage of total healthcare
dollars.  Unfortunately, I can't find a source for that information
now that I need it.  I've seen it on a couple of company websites, but
I'm looking for a better source.  I've also seen it cited as and HCFA
statistic, but I'm having difficulty navigating that website to find
what I'm looking for.  If anyone could find that fact stated in a
published article or preferably on the HCFA website it would be
greatly appreciated.  It should read something along the lines of:
roughly 7% of the patients consume approx. 80% of healthcare dollars
and most of these patients have chronic illnesses.  Thanks

Take a look at the link
http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/13/19/08.html. This indicates "Three
percent of patients consume 90 percent of all health care dollars,
according to Robert Brook of the RAND Corporation". May be you can
take it from here by researching the works of Robert Brook.

Maybe this from the HCFA will help: "Historically, a small proportion
of Medicare beneficiaries has accounted for a major proportion of
Medicare expenditures. For example, in 1996, 12.1 percent of all
Medicare enrollees accounted for 75.5 percent ($126.1 billion) of all
Medicare fee-for-service program payments."
http://www.hcfa.gov/research/suppinfo.pdf

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website is now located
at cms.hhs.gov.  Please review the  paragraph under the title Health
Spending located at [url]http://www.cms.hhs.gov/statistics/35chartbk.pdf[/url].

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website is now located
at cms.hhs.gov.  If you look under HEALTH SPENDING at the following
URL, I believe that you will find information pertaining to your
question.
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/statistics/35chartbk.pdf

Hi,

This may be helpful:

Practice patterns vary widely, and there will be a greater use of
national standards and best practices. It is estimated that eight
percent of people will consume 70 percent of health care costs. These
people know who they are. The challenge is to these people who receive
better care quicker. Ninety percent of this eight percent have chronic
conditions. Some disease management programs like those for diabetes
proved successful in providing great care up front. There is a concern
about patients who do follow medical advice. A considerable amount of
money is spent on them.

From the Council on HealthCare Economics and Policy at
http://sihp.brandeis.edu/council/html/Princeton8part3.htm