2023 was the year healthcare began to show the first major signs that the pandemic was firmly in the rearview mirror. The industry began to regroup, revisiting and refreshing business models, dealing with financial and workforce challenges, and enabling technology and partnership plays.
There is a growing sense that the industry is ready to renew focus on the things that matter — patient centricity, growth and improved financial performance. It’s time to get ready for healthcare’s next normal.
Disruption of the status quo
Tech giants such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft have shifted the business of healthcare, leveraging their strengths in data management for patient prognosis and care. Retail players have diversified healthcare delivery, catalyzing a historic restructuring and reorganization of industry segments.
This high-stakes ecosystem now includes an entirely different set of players, all operating in a new structure, leaving traditional healthcare organizations with the need to reevaluate their strategies for optimizing the patient experience.
“This has led to a number of new and unique partnerships that started in 2023 and will extend into 2024,” said Monica Weekes, vice president of health sciences consulting at Cognizant. “As they become further entrenched, we will be able to start measuring their effect on the healthcare ecosystem. There’s a lot of opportunity there.”
Making data strategic
To drive the move from in-person care to telehealth and to find ways to support this new care delivery model, healthcare organizations have accelerated their digital transformation initiatives, examining how they manage patient and operational data. With the need for greater speed and efficiency in managing data across care settings, healthcare organizations have changed their mindset about protecting patient data and regulatory compliance.
“Regulations have provided access to significant amounts of data, which can be overwhelming. At best, it’s complicated to manage,” Weekes said. “That’s why compliance has moved from a legal, regulatory function to the forefront across operations and IT strategy at healthcare organizations. Some entities are pursuing a new approach in which they only focus on a particular region and a particular course of treatment, looking at that data to see if it can impact strategy and pricing.”
A new healthcare workforce challenge
The new healthcare ecosystem is built on more than just technology. Although staffing has seen improvements, it continues to be a strategic imperative.
“The concern has evolved from one of scarcity to clinician and stakeholder satisfaction,” Weekes said. “The responsibility of health system leadership has evolved from one of just providing resources to improving experience and engagement — and they’re employing analytics and dashboarding to support their efforts. This has led to a transformation of the workforce in terms of how healthcare is delivered, how associates, clinicians and non-clinical workers are rewarded, and when and how they go to work.”
Automation and generative AI have a role to play, but there’s still a need for humans to provide valuable support. “While there are automation opportunities, it must play a support role versus being in the driver’s seat.” Incorporating automation shouldn’t be at the expense of patient or provider experience.
Following an explosion of digital, a new focus
Digital investments continue to be the No. 1 area driving the experience. “Payers and providers remain focused on it, and there has been a fair amount of investment, but it has delivered less value and a lower ROI than originally envisioned,” Weekes said.
The question becomes: Where and how are healthcare organizations investing? The industry is moving from large-scale investments in digital enablement to smaller scale, more value-oriented enablement that promises to help hospitals and physician practices achieve greater interoperability, create efficiencies in supply chain management, and help them move forward with value-based care.
“It should be about focusing on the enablement and the moments that matter, not just digital for the sake of having it,” Weekes said.
In addition, health equity has emerged as a top priority. “Health equity and social determinants of health have now taken center stage,” Weekes said. “It is important for all players within the healthcare ecosystem to have a strategy and an action plan in place to engage across the system. That’s a significant change from even two years ago.”
A new year, a new perspective
In 2024, as the industry evolves, we expect it will continue to leverage new partnerships and a refreshed perspective about data and competitive analytics to meet regulatory and care delivery challenges. “The industry will continue to look outside the box for solutions that will enable it to deliver more efficient and equitable patient care,” Weekes concluded.