What's ahead for you and your health care organization in the coming year? In this roundup of industry outlooks and predictions from a variety of pundits, publications, and research organizations, we run down the anticipated key developments that could have major implications for the business of health care. Forewarned is forearmed.
The common threads running through the predictions are health care consumerism, the need for operational innovation, value-based delivery models, and information and medical technology.
In alphabetical order by source, here are the must-read health care outlooks and predictions for 2016:
2016 American Hospital Association Environmental Scan
Source: American Hospital Association
Take Away: “Consumer-driven health care is becoming more relevant and driving new models of care delivery. Now, more than ever, consumers are looking to 'own' their health and developing a trusted partnership with their doctors in medical decisions. Another important trend is that more health care organizations are taking on greater financial risk by owning their own health plans.”
“Hospital CFOs' top concerns for 2016”
Source: Becker's Hospital Review
Take Away: “One of the biggest challenges healthcare CFOs are faced with is how to become more efficient.”
“5 healthcare technology predictions for 2016”
Source: CIO
Take Away: “Healthcare Consumerism will gain ground, enabled by increased investment in digital technologies…One thing, though—there may not be a returns policy anytime soon for healthcare products and services. And oh, by the way, consumers do want their electronic health records.”
“Cleveland Clinic Unveils Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2016”
Source: Cleveland Clinic
Take Away: “Genetic profiling offers new hope to people suffering fatal diseases, like cancer. By upending a 50-year-old research model, genomic-based tests may increase the speed and flexibility of clinical trials and guide desperate patients to the most promising experimental treatments.”
“2016 Life Sciences and Health Care U.S. Outlook”
Source: Deloitte
Take Away: “Looking to 2016, the biggest issue both worldwide and in the US continues to be cost. All other trends stem from the cost factor, including access to care, advances in care (especially new drugs), accountable care/alternative payment models, and digital consumer engagement.”
“Six Trends for Electronic Health Information Exchange and Interoperability in 2016”
Source: DirectTrust
Take Away: “Patients will have greater access to their clinical records, and they will be able to more freely and easily move those records whenever and to whomever they choose. Health care consumers will take as their right control of their own health information in much greater numbers.”
“2016 Will Be the Year of Telemedicine and ACOs”
Source: Health Care Law Today
Take Away: “ACOs are well positioned to follow other health care providers' leads and take full advantage of what telemedicine has to offer in 2016—short and long term cost savings, increased patient satisfaction, and greater likelihood of triggering shared savings incentives. Those that capitalize on telemedicine and remote monitoring technology are likely to be the winners of financial incentive payments at the end of 2016.”
“6 Predictions for Big Data Analytics and Cognitive Computing In 2016”
Source: Forbes
Take Away: “By 2020, organizations able to analyze all relevant data and deliver actionable information will achieve an extra $430 billion in productivity benefits over their less analytically oriented peers.”
“Top 10 Healthcare Predictions for 2016”
Source: Forbes
Take Away: “To mitigate the cost and care burden of late-stage chronic diseases, everyone from payers, employers, and the government will be offering a wide range of technology and wellness enabled preventative services. With access now available, it remains to be seen how engaged consumers will be in leveraging those services.”
“2016 Healthcare Trends: Population Health Prevails in Pay-for-Value Realm”
Source: Healthcare Intelligence Network
Take Away: “In order to profit from healthcare's increasingly value-driven payment formulas, physician practices, hospitals and post-acute care must demonstrate improved clinical outcomes. A population health management strategy is the key to those gains, and the associated reimbursement."
“CIOs target population health, patient engagement in 2016”
Source: Healthcare IT News
Take Away: “Most organizations have been using EMR's for some time now for documentation, ordering, alerting and notifications, clinical decision support rules and even some sharing of documents and data with other providers, patients and Health Information Exchanges. It's time to take interoperability to a national level.”
“The top pharmacy challenges in 2016”
Source: Managed Healthcare Executive
Take Away: “In the face of rising drug prices, what can plans do to contain costs while ensuring members have access to the medications they need?…One solution may be tailoring benefit designs to different patient populations.”
“Top 5 industry challenges of 2016”
Source: Managed Healthcare Executive
Take Away: “Many organizations, however, are struggling to realize technology's full potential, according to the survey. When asked, 'What is your most pressing information technology problem' the answer that received the highest percentage of responses was, 'turning data into action.'"
The New World of the Health System CIO: Consumers, Consolidation and Crooks
Source: Scottsdale Institute
Take Away: “A particular struggle for all organizations participating in value-based care is managing the need for real-time data. Health plans have historically managed with delayed claims-based data, but now they want real-time data to be able to manage their costs. Added to that struggle is that claims data alone is no longer enough. Value-based care requires integration and management of clinical and other data as well.”
Which ones are on your list? And which ones do you think will have the biggest impact on your health care business in the coming year? Let us know in the comments section.