You reap what you sow. The idea is the push behind countless movie plots and rock songs but it’s also a central theme to PricewaterhouseCooper’s (PwC) Health Research Institute’s (HRI) new report on healthcare trends to watch out for in 2017. The seeds for next year were planted in 2007, according to the new report.
There will be certain uncertainty over the fate of the Affordable Care Act next year. However, many of the trends that should be on top-of-mind for hospital administrators next year will relate to value-based care, Trine Tsouderos, PwC’s Health Research Institute director, told Healthcare Dive. “If you think about the political changes as the waves on the surface of the ocean, there’s a very strong current underneath that is the shift to value-based care,” she said. “We do not see that changing. We see the shift continuing industry-wide despite any changes in Washington, DC.”
For example, only 90 or so retail clinics were in operation and about one in 10 consumers have been to one in 2016. Today, more than 3,000 such clinics have been propped up across the U.S. with one in three consumers having visited one. This drift highlights the continued move to more convenience in healthcare access as well as price transparency for patients.
Sticking with the nautical theme, Tsouderos likened the healthcare industry to a battleship in explaining why ideas from 10 years ago are now coming to fruition. It takes a long time to change the course of such a large and complex ship. “You can’t turn [the industry] on a dime,” she said.
What emerging trends administrators should know for 2017
https://www.pwc.com/us/en/health-industries/top-health-industry-issues.html
HENRY KOTULA 