This article details the shift in Medicare spending from inpatient settings to services for chronic conditions delivered in outpatient settings over the past twenty years.

Thorpe, K.E., Ogden, L.L. and Galactionova, K. (2010). Chronic conditions account for rise in Medicare spending from 1987 to 2006. Health Affairs, 29(4): 718-724. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0474. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.2009.0474v1

Authors: Kenneth E. Thorpe, Lydia L. Ogden and Katya Galactionova