The battle for healthcare reform is already impacting patients and the way they access insurance, health and provider information. The tempering of healthcare costs through affordable health plans and new initiatives will begin to take shape in 2011.
These 11 trends suggest that the coming year will mark the beginning of what will hopefully translate to a complete and thorough overhaul of the U. S. healthcare system. The most notable areas of impact will be in IT infrastructure and security, and in the additional information health plan and employer groups will now be expected by users to provide in order to help them make more informed health decisions.
1. Drop in reimbursements in the healthcare sector
In 2011, we expect to see much smaller monetary returns than in previous years. Public entities and private corporations will both take significant steps to keep the rising cost of healthcare as low as possible. One of the main tools for cost-cutting will be the increasing implementation of health information technology (IT).
2. Healthcare CIOs will be more accountable
Now more than ever, Chief Information Officers in the healthcare industry will be expected to perform at peak capacity. They will be held accountable for the required system changes, as well as initiatives that will be coming into play in response to changing user behavior.
3. Competition focus will be on quality and performance
Because of the attempts to level or lower the cost of healthcare in the coming year, the focus in the industry will be on quality and performance. Health IT initiatives will be an important part of redirecting the industry’s focus by making information transparent and more accessible to health plan and employer group users.
4. Concept and practice of accountable care will take shape
While the concept of Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) is a fairly new concept, 2011 will see the practice of ACOs materializing into something that is more concrete and closer to what the original objective of its creation, which was to make quality healthcare available to all sectors of people in need.
5. ‘Industrialization’ of healthcare gains new momentum
With the lowering cost of healthcare, focus will shift back an ‘industrialization’ of the system. These changes will impact the way the current system is working, allowing it to be driven more by quality and performance than finances. Healthcare IT strategies will become a huge part of this new dawn in healthcare.
Look for the next six trends in our upcoming blog. Visit our website to see how we are changing search for the future of healthcare. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.
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ACA will be slow to materalize because of the risk to a health plan. Most are setting on the side line.
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