2016 promises to be a “year of firsts” in healthcare, as consumers, healthcare providers and companies old and new adjust to the “new health economy,” according to an annual forecast from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Health IT and pharma issues will dominate the headlines, said the just-released report, “Top Health Industry Issues for 2016.”
PwC reported:
Behavioral Health, Interoperability and eConsent: Meeting the Demands of CMS Final Rule Compliance
In a webinar on April 16 at 1pm ET, Aneesh Chopra will moderate a discussion with executives from DocuSign, Velatura, and behavioral health providers on eConsent, health information exchange and compliance with the CMS Final Rule on interoperability.
In 2016, millions of American consumers will have their first video consults, be prescribed their first health apps and use their smartphones as diagnostic tools for the first time. These new experiences will begin to make real the dream of care anywhere, anytime, changing consumer expectations and fueling innovation.
2016 also will be the year that many Americans, faced with higher deductibles, manage medical expenses with new tools and services rolled out by their insurance companies, healthcare providers, banks and other new entrants.
“That’s now better enabled by the technology we put in people’s hands,” said Michael Thompson, principal of global human resources services for the global consulting firm.
PwC’s healthcare team identified 10 top issues for the new year:
- Care in the palm of your hand. This category mostly means telehealth, incorporating remote monitoring, diagnosis and treatment. “It’s a reflection of society today,” Thompson said. “If it’s not mobile, it’s not real.”
- Consumers as the “new money managers” in healthcare. Pushed by factors such as ever-higher deductibles and employee shares of premium payments, healthcare consumers will be managing health spending much like they do their retirement savings. Likewise, their employers will be looking to offer more creative benefits and service options.
- New types of databases to improve patient care and consumer health. Investments in big data finally begin to pay off as healthcare organizations start discovering “non-relational” databases to unlock insights in all the information they have been collecting.
- Care moves to the community. “We’re seeing a rapid rethinking about how we deliver care,” Thompson said. Expect academic medical centers to continue to acquire or affiliate with lower-cost community hospitals, plus an acceleration of growth in retail clinics.
- Cybersecurity meets medical technology. Hackers and criminals will start to attack smart medical devices, PwC said, so device manufacturers and healthcare providers alike will have to beef up their defense.
- “Merger mania.” Many megadollar deals in the new year won’t be traditional, either. Pharmaceutical companies might look beyond pills into new types of products and services, while big health systems will look to extend their reach by collaborating with community-based providers.
- Behavioral health moves to the fore.
- The first batch of biosimilars will hit the U.S. market in 2016, taking a bit of the sting out of rising drug prices.
- Unwrapping the “mystery” of medical costs. While some providers might fear losing a competitive edge, PwC said increased transparency will help plenty of organizations discover areas in which they could be more efficient and deliver better care.
- “Goldilocks comes to drug prices.” Prices of specialty drugs in particular are out of control. Pharma companies might face tighter regulation and will either have to rein in increases, develop new financing plans for patients or come up with better ways of justifying huge price increases.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Image: PricewaterhouseCoopers
