As the years go by, innovation and human needs (prevalence of chronic diseases, growing/aging populations) shape the changes witnessed in different sectors, including the healthcare industry. Naturally, predictions are not always accurate, but they can shape the decisions we make throughout the new year. Here are a few projections we may witness this year.

1. Home Based Care is Still a Focus

Due to the rising expenses of hospitalization, technology advancement, and changing patient demands, health care organizations are now changing their perception about where and how care can be delivered. Therefore urgent care, palliative care, home-based primary care, and hospital-at-home care are becoming increasingly popular. 

2. Drug Pricing and Drug Innovations Dominate the Headlines 

The rise in drug pricing has been attracting a lot of attention, which will continue through 2020. Nevertheless, the breakthroughs in pharmaceuticals are also attracting a lot of attention. Therefore, digital-first health care disruptors will focus on finding user-friendly and cost-effective pathways to pay for these new products and other health care transactions.

3. Care Model Innovations

Patients are no longer passive and have increasingly more input for their healthcare decisions. Therefore, innovations will focus on care models that leverage people, processes, and technology to deliver convenience, access, transparency, and personalized products and services.

4. Slow-Paced Digital Transformation

There is a lot of talk about the use of machine learning, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, the internet of medical things, and many more to influence health care practices and enable care models. However, digitization poses a new set of challenges and adoption would be slower as pay-offs are not instant. 

5. Mental Health and Related Conditions Will Become Significant Concerns

As the awareness of mental health and substance abuse increases, new start-ups will focus on providing access to care for these conditions. Therefore, behavioral treatments of the future will lose the associated stigma as the societal awareness of the prevalence of these conditions improves.

6. Shift to Physician Independence

Many physicians are seeking new ways to become independent of the hospital system owing to the rising dissatisfaction with their work and high rates of burnout. Therefore, health care organizations may also shift focus on providing better ways to organize private physician groups. Nevertheless, there are speculations that these physician groups might end up as acquisitions of the larger hospital systems.

For more information about trends in the healthcare industry, including the latest on medical equipment and accessories, visit the Coast Biomedical blog.