What Innovations and Challenges Shape the Future of Medical Care?

Rapid technological improvements and the shift to value-based treatment are posing issues for the healthcare business. In addition to controlling health inequities and an ageing population, providers must give high-quality treatment that is easily accessible and inexpensive. According to a WittKieffer survey, 77% of executives in the healthcare industry report feeling burned out.

Healthcare companies will need to increase their adaptability and resilience by developing flexible systems that use data to run more efficiently in order to handle these shifting demands. Here are six examples of how progressive healthcare executives are adapting to change without sacrificing their commitment to helping their communities.

1. Considering the Experiences of Frontline Workers as a Business Imperative

Burnout and turnover among healthcare personnel are on the rise; in the last five years, the average hospital has lost 105 percent of its workforce. Healthcare companies need to implement technologies to improve the employee experience in order to address this problem. In order to increase engagement and retention, St. Luke’s University Health Network has added an application to its main HRM system that lets nurses choose to participate in bonus plans. Field of healthcare should also spend money on benefits and pay that take into account the mental, physical, and financial well of their staff members.

Banner Health and other health systems have made technological investments that make working for their workers’ life easier for analyse factors that can trigger stress. For example, these systems enable nurses to maintain their licenses and certificates current. Health systems may enhance the daily experience of their employees, increase retention, and enhance continuity of treatment by lowering friction and providing self-service capabilities.

2. Utilizing AI and ML to Maximize Their Talent

Clinical staffing levels have significantly decreased as a result of the pandemic; between 2020 and 2021, the number of nurses employed fell by 100,000, the worst decline in forty years. In order to cover shifts and fulfil patient demand, hospitals and health systems are now obliged to rely on pricey contract staffing services (Dr. Mesko,2023). McKinsey research predicts a shortage of 80,000 doctors and 450,000 registered nurses by 2025. According to 85% of health system executives, personnel issues will significantly affect their long-term plan. Sixty-six percent of executives are using technology to address labor issues, while machine learning and artificial intelligence are helping to automate administrative duties.

AI-driven command centers will be installed in one out of every five large hospitals by the end of 2027 to enhance operations, reduce costs, and coordinate patient care. Having easy access to current clinical and operational data can help organizations optimize patient flow, personnel, and inventory. Demand forecasting and labor distribution recommendations can be found by utilizing AI and ML, which can revolutionize healthcare demand planning. Leaders in the healthcare sector need to take the initiative to stop employees from leaving, particularly because burnout is driving a lot of workers away from the field.

3. Emphasizing Business Flexibility and the Ability to Adjust

With the growth of telemedicine and patients’ growing perception of home as a more convenient and pleasant setting for post-acute and long-term care, home care will play a major role in the future of medical care. In an effort to raise affordability, lower readmission rates, and enhance care quality, healthcare payers are also implementing home-based models. It will be difficult to transport medical supplies to patients at home on a large scale, therefore this move will require operational and logistical agility. To guarantee continuity of treatment, providers like Vanderbilt University Medical Center are investing in cutting-edge methods of patient education and equipment delivery. To be relevant, health systems must also adjust to new competitors in the market, such as massive retail chains, and offer quicker access to insightful data.

This will entail giving patients easy access to digital front doors (ER, 2020), akin to consumer tech experiences found in the banking, retail, and hotel sectors. AI-driven command centers are anticipated to be installed in one in five large hospitals by the end of 2027 in order to enhance operations, reduce costs, and coordinate patient care.

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4. Using Finance to Drive Business Transformation and Create Value

As strategic partners, healthcare CFOs are putting more of an emphasis on growing their companies in order to cut expenses and raise productivity. In addition, they are concentrating on talent strategy and investment, automating the workforce in order to enhance workflow and minimise administrative duties. CFOs use sophisticated planning techniques including driver-based models, rolling forecasts, and scenario planning to do this. This is particularly crucial given the high levels of M&A activity now observed in the healthcare sector. The nonprofit managed care firm Corewell Health demonstrates how digital transformation is important for successful acquisitions.

In order to increase productivity and improve the organization’s future positioning, the company combined its supply chain management, human resources, and financial functions onto a single platform. One key component of Corewell Health’s value offering was the integration of digital services, like ERP and EMR.

5. Using Continuous Planning with Real-Time Data to Quicken Decisions

Declining reimbursements and rising expenses are posing a challenge to healthcare businesses, making real-time data and analytics essential for performance monitoring, decision-making, and problem identification. But more than two thirds of these companies don’t have the analytics capabilities needed to get operational and financial information in real time. The sector generates over one-third of global data, with healthcare data expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 36% by 2025. Health systems are increasingly using cloud-based solutions that combine machine-processed data, real-time analytics, and operational and historical data to solve this. In order to ensure the healthcare industry’s continuous success, these tools can support human decision-making and enable healthcare professionals to take the best judgments as soon as feasible.

6. Enhancing Supply Chain Management to Promote Innovation, Business Continuity, and Financial Sustainability

Inflation and problems with the supply chain are driving up prices for healthcare organisations; from 2019 to 2022, per-patient supply expenditures will climb by 18.5 percent. Healthcare firms need to change their supply chain management in order to save costs and obtain additional insights. Cloud-based solutions can proactively automate processes like requisitions, tracking, and restocking while instantly addressing pricing, vendor problems, and other bottlenecks.

For instance, Sharp HealthCare in Southern California reduced the length of its request-for-proposal cycle and saved $4.2 million in just six months by centralizing its sourcing procedures. Cloud-based solutions are being adopted by health systems more frequently in order to gain insights and make wise judgments. Healthcare executives need to reevaluate their supply chain strategy. They should use AI and ML to find potential for cost and optimization savings, and they should use smart inventory sensors to build a comprehensive awareness of the supply chain.

 

References

Dr. Bertalan Mesko, PhD (2023). 10 Ways Technology is Changing Healthcare. https://medicalfuturist.com/ten-ways-technology-changing-healthcare/

 

ER (2020). How to Make Progress on Your Goals When You Feel Unmotivated? https://eazyresearch.com/blog/how-to-make-progress-on-your-goals-when-you-feel-unmotivated/