Inverness Medical has agreed to acquire Free & Clear, a provider of smoking cessation and other wellness services.
Because chronic disease accounts for a large percentage of total health spending, approaches to managing those diseases are constantly being developed and modified.
The Wall Street Journal article summarized some research results regarding the potential cost savings of prevention and wellness efforts, particularly for persons with chronic diseases. The overall conclusion is that not much money is likely to be saved by such methods, primarily because the cost of these programs when applied to a large population tends to outweigh the health care cost savings which eventually accrue.