Smoking Ban Reshapes Heart Market

I read some dramatic numbers today from Pueblo, Colorado. In the three years since implementing a ban on smoking in public places, hospitals admissions for heart attacks dropped 41 percent!

In the new study, researchers reviewed hospital admissions for heart attacks in Pueblo. Patients were classified by ZIP codes. They then looked at the same data for two nearby areas that did not have bans — the area of Pueblo County outside the city and for El Paso County. In Pueblo, the rate of heart attacks dropped from 257 per 100,000 people before the ban to 152 per 100,000 in the three years afterward. There were no significant changes in the two other areas.

There are multiple implications from this data. First, obviously, it is a good thing. As someone who has a family history of heart disease and has paid a few visits to the cath lab myself, the potential that reduced exposure to second-hand smoking actually does reduce the risk of heart attacks is encouraging news. For those focused on population-based health statistics, or reducing overall costs of health care, the study adds fuel to the fire to push for broader smoking bans.

For hospitals facing a dominant competitor in the heart care market, the study begs an odd question: would the better way to address the competitors' heart care market share be [1] build a heart program of your own; or, [2] invest in a couple of lobbyists to push through a smoking ban to both improve community health AND cut your competitors' top line volume by half?