Top 7 Healthcare Trends and Challenges From Our Financial Expert

- Bobbi Brown

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Healthcare Trends From Our Financial Expert1: Physicians start to feel the financial pinch from CMS’s regulations

Eligible physicians are starting to feel the penalty phase of CMS’s quality reporting and Meaningful Use initiatives.They also also need to comply with CMS’s new Value-Based Payment Modifier program, or face penalties.These new requirements are overwhelming busy physicians, prompting the AMA to ask for relief.

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Healthcare Trends From Our Financial Expert2: Technological advancements are transforming the entire healthcare industry.

The proliferation of new technology in healthcare is exploding in areas including:

1. Wearable Tracking Devices

2. Patient Centered Care

3. Increased Data Demands

4. Attaining Meaningful Use

5. Switching to ICD-10

6. Data Security

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Healthcare Trends From Our Financial Expert3: Financial viability still a significant concern for healthcare CEOs

A main concern for hospital CEOs continues to revolve around the financial position of their organizations. Other concerns include new CMS mandates and rulings, population health management, and personnel shortages.Healthcare sectors will struggle under the weight of negative ratings and reviews.

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Healthcare Trends From Our Financial Expert4: A new need to tolerate risk in a value-based purchasing world

Health systems have already determined their tolerance for risk and have started to implement risk strategies to survive value-based payment models.If a hospital performs poorly in all three programs (hospital-acquired conditions, high readmissions, and value-based purchasing), it is at risk for a 5.5 percent reduction during 2015.

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Healthcare Trends From Our Financial Expert5: Interest in population health management will grow

There is much population health management discussion with no common definition.We use:

A proactive application of strategies and interventions to defined cohorts of individuals across the continuum of healthcare delivery in an effort to maintain and/or improve the health of the individuals within the cohort at the lowest necessary cost.

Population Health Management

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Healthcare Trends From Our Financial Expert6: Outcomes will continue to improve

A recent Modern Healthcare article in presented improvements in patient safety in U.S. hospitals. In fact, approximately 1.3 million fewer patients were harmed between 2010 and 2013. CMS’s emphasis on reducing hospital readmission rates drove down the all-cause 30-day rate among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries nearly 19.5 percent.

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Healthcare Trends From Our Financial Expert7: Collaboration will increase

An important source for trendsetting in the healthcare industry is the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference. This year’s presenters showed how partnerships and collaboration are crucial to survive the shift to value-based healthcare. Examples:

Joining forces with:

Sharing risk with:

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Healthcare Trends From Our Financial ExpertThe End Goal: Creating Higher Value at Lower Costs

The healthcare industry is striving to create a better system that achieves higher quality at lower costs. The formula to get there is simple: value equals quality over cost. The effort required to get there, however, is anything but simple.

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Healthcare Trends From Our Financial ExpertWhy such urgency?

The longer we wait, the more difficult it will be to make changes that will enable health systems to survive the challenges. And the more it will cost.

• There are 11,000 baby boomers aging into Medicare daily.

• The U.S. population is about 320 million, which makes 2015 “the first year healthcare spending will reach $10,000 per person…” Forbes

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Link to original article for a more in-depth discussion.

Top 7 Healthcare Trends From Our Financial Expert

© 2014 Health Catalystwww.healthcatalyst.comProprietary. Feel free to share but we would appreciate a Health Catalyst citation.

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Bobbi Brown is Vice President of Financial Engagement for Health Catalyst, a data warehousing and analytics company based in Salt Lake City. Ms. Brown started her healthcare career at Intermountain Healthcare supporting clinical integration efforts before moving to Sutter Health and, later, Kaiser Permanente, where she served as Vice President of Financial Planning and Performance. Ms. Brown holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management as well as a BA in Spanish and Education

from Misericordia University. She regularly writes and teaches on finance-related healthcare topics.