6 Keys to Success in Business Management
June 20, 2012How Important is Company Culture?
June 27, 2012
The United States spends more on healthcare than any other developed nation. Our total healthcare costs in the U.S. exceed $2.5 trillion. Such expenditures would perhaps make sense if we had demonstrably superior health care…but we don’t. According to the CIA World Factbook, our life expectancy ( as one measure of good health practices) ranks 50th in the world.
Healthcare reform efforts must focus on cutting the total costs of healthcare, and increase quality delivery of healthcare services. Intuitively, this almost seems impossible. There are some signs, however, that US healthcare may be ready to change or evolve.
1. Physicians are increasingly deciding to be employed by large health care systems, rather than have operate their practices as independent businesses. A recent Medical Group Management Association poll found that, as of last year, 50% of physicians are now employed by large health care corporations. By 2013, it is estimated that only 33% of physicians will have their own independent practices. This represents an enormous shift in how healthcare is delivered.
2. There is going to be a larger focus on population health and preventive healthcare. Most authorities acknowledge that, to cut costs, healthcare will have to be less about hospital and doctor visits and more about preventive medicine. According to Joe Lupica, chairman at Newpoint Healthcare Advisors, “Today’s healthcare CEO is told to fill beds. I think tomorrow’s CEO will be told to empty beds. You’ll have to keep your community healthy and out of the hospital,”
3. Increasingly, healthcare providers will adopt consumer-oriented models of care delivery; they will aim to be more efficient and more convenient. According to Matt Montgomery, senior vice president at Buxton, “The reality is that healthcare providers are moving to a consumer-oriented approach for care.”
4. Insurers will increasingly collaborate with hospitals and healthcare providers to trim costs. For instance, Aetna is working to create cooperative deals with healthcare providers. Of course, the details of each deal vary but, in general, their aim is to reduce costs and track care quality. These plans represent a direct reaction to the state-based exchanges that are part of President Obama’s healthcare reform legislation.
5. Finally, information technology will play an increasingly important role in improving healthcare. Technologies currently being developed will be able to track a patient’s health over time and deliver that information, in real-time, to a doctor or caregiver. This data would generate faster diagnoses, and help patients recognize unhealthy behaviors.
Healthcare reform has changed and will continue to change how healthcare is delivered. The main question is “will it change US healthcare enough?”
Image courtesy of FutUndBeidl