As the calendar year comes to an end, it’s time for many organizations to reflect on challenges and issues from this year, as well as look to new efforts for the coming year. The following captures some key takeaways from 2022 and where health care leaders may want to focus on in 2023.
What did we learn?
- Consolidations of large health systems are still very real and likely to continue to be an avenue for health systems looking to build scale and obtain market position as it relates to payor contracts.
- Providers continue to be challenged with labor costs. Across the continuum of care in the U.S., labor is the most challenging issue in the industry. The only way providers will overcome this is through efficiency, likely through the use of technology.
- Consumers are still not happy with their experience in health care; price transparency has yet to make the buying experience much better, and consumers are still seeing more and more risk shifted to them from their employers through high deductible plans.
For many health care organizations, next year will mean a greater focus on becoming larger, becoming more efficient and improving the patient-consumer experience.
Thoughts for next year
Key considerations for health care leaders next year will include:
- Interest rate increases will cause health care providers to reconsider expansion of their capital spending. But it could also lead providers to double down on environmental, social and governance efforts and look toward green bonds or other capital that comes at a discount for ESG-related areas of focus.
- Inflation will impact health care providers through the cost of everything they consume, from labor to supplies. It will also create stress on their revenue as consumers will be forced to decide what bills to pay, such as their health care deductible or their energy bills.
- As health care becomes more consumer-driven, the age-old wisdom that health care is recession-resistant will be challenged.
Follow our health care thought leadership into 2023 by checking out our ongoing quarterly industry outlooks.
