Health IT Springs Into Action: What We Can Expect In Q2

Despite record-breaking snow storms covering parts of the country last week, spring is officially here! This winter was a busy one for the healthcare industry with another HIMSS conference, along with major news from companies including, CVS and Aetna to Amazon, JPM and Berkshire Hathaway. As the weather (hopefully) warms, the industry will continue to buzz with breaking announcements and happenings. We’ve outlined some of our predictions in the upcoming months.

Better Manage the High Costs of Healthcare  

Despite U.S. healthcare costs nearly twice as high as other high-income countries, all of the money spent on healthcare in the U.S. is not paying off. A Harvard University report found that costs are largely attributed to prescription drug prices, administration costs and physician pay. As we head into spring, we expect vendors to showcase new solutions/technologies to combat these costs and for thought leaders to continue to bring this issue to center stage.

Consumer Big Data Applications

Data has played a critical role in healthcare for years, but as a recent Fortune piece highlights that data, including medical images, genetic profiles, how you sleep and more, is now more valuable than ever as it is being analyzed to drive change. The article explains:

These massive storehouses of information have always been there. But now, thanks to a slew of novel technologies, sophisticated measuring devices, ubiquitous connectivity and the cloud, and yes, artificial intelligence, companies can harness and make sense of this data as never before. 

As data, especially patient specific data, comes top of mind, more data is being considered and granular details about an individual patient are making a difference when it comes to the care they receive. Over the next few months, we expect to see more of a focus on analyzing data to draw insights that can help improve outcomes and cut costs.

Bipartisan Efforts to Fix Healthcare

Back in February, a new nonpartisan group of politicians, policy makers, executives and other public figures, led by Andy Slavitt, joined forces to take politics out of health care and bring the U.S. health system together. The group, United States of Care, pledges to push for policy changes based on the idea that despite political divides, Americans want the same thing when it comes to their health. Due to disagreement on both sides of the aisle, healthcare policy has been a pain point for the Trump Administration. We presume more individuals will speak out and pledge to do their part to help the country focus on what’s most important: delivering cost effective, quality care.

As we look ahead to the spring, we anticipate unexpected companies to come into the space and new polices and ideas to emerge in the market. With healthcare changing on the daily, find out how your organization can stay relevant as we head into the new season. Learn more about our offerings here and contact us here.