Healthcare Predictions for 2018 With the ever-evolving policies, processes, capabilities and complexity impacting the sector, smart health care is not going to come easy. Clinicians, usually, have difficulty coordinating appointments and procedures, sharing test results, and involving patients in their treatment plan. In other words, healthcare providers may be working hard but are they working smart ? How is health care overcoming the obstacles of the hospital walls? This 2018 outlook reviews the current state of the health care sector; explores trends and issues impacting health care providers, governments, patients; and suggests considerations for stakeholders as they seek to deliver high-quality, cost-efficient, and smart health care. 1. Patients will design even the most complex healthcare technology – at least by inspiration MRI and mammography exams can help save lives, but patients often avoid them due to anxiety and fear of pain. A number of advances in technology now point to a new wave of patient-centric technology, redesigned from the very start to reflect what matters most to the patient – even for some of the most difficult and sensitive exams, such as for the brain or breasts. A new mammogram became the industry’s first system with a remote-control device that allows women to adjust their own compression during the exam under the guidance of a technologist – four out of five patients who received their mammogram found it improved the comfort significantly. In an MRI, patients traditionally have been required to lie still under a heavy contraption. Now the industry is talking about a completely redesigned coil called AIR Technology that turns this traditionally bulky covering into a blanket that is 60 percent lighter than the conventional. Both technologies are expected to be installed in more clinics and hospitals across the world in 2018. 2. Accessible and secure data management will be a growing concern The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) recently issued a call to action for the nation’s health sector. Aimed at encouraging health policy changes the document calls for interoperability with a focus on accessible and secure data exchange. To answer this
call, the healthcare community will take a step forward and implement protocolsand trusted exchange frameworks that improve the consistency, accessibility, and security of electronic health information exchange. 3. Strategically moving from volume to value The health care industry is participating in risk-bearing, coordinated care models and continues to move away from the traditional fee-for-service (FFS) system. Stakeholders are moving from volume to value through reform policies, programs promoting operational efficiency, technology use, and addressing the social determinants of health. 4. The patient experience will be paramount With real-time data available at their fingertips, patients have even greater expectations of convenience and efficiency. Providers have to be extremely proactive by engaging patients and creating high-quality experiences. This means giving patients easy access to forms and health information, putting necessary safeguards in place to protect patient information, and keeping wait times down. 5. Responding to health policy and complex regulations Digital health care technology solutions addressing better diagnostics and more personalized therapeutic tools are leading to the challenge of data protection. The trends in data management and security include cognitive computing, cloud-based, interoperable electronic health records, and Internet of Things (IoT). Cybersecurity and data risk management continue to be front and center, especially with patients taking more control of their health, and wanting reliability to their data. While these technologies have often been talked about as hypothetical, 2018 may be the nexus point in which they become more important and common across the industry.