Making Healthcare More Efficient
BearingOn.Health Original Contribution
September 2023
by Anne Llewellyn, MS, BHSA, RN, CRRN, CMGT-BC, BCPA, FCM
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the United States spent $4.4 trillion, or $13,413 per person on healthcare 2022. This number is expected to increase to $7.2 trillion, or $20,425 per person, by 2031. As the country feels the impact of this spending on other services funded by the government, questions are asked; is the money we are spending on healthcare making us healthier? Is life expectancy longer? Are we more productive? Is access to care equitable? Experts say no.
According to the Centers for Disease and Control and Preventions, the driver of the healthcare spending is on chronic diseases. Chronic diseases are the leading causes of illness, disability, and death in the United States. They are also the leading drivers of our nation’s $4.4 trillion in annual health care costs.
Blake Cline Director of Sales & Partnership Strategy of Acclivity Health Solutions states as healthcare costs rise and reimbursement shifts, providers are still being held to high standards of care. They are expected to address not only providing care, but also equity in doing so, while also increasing the quality of care. All of this generates an excessive amount of data on patients that can often be overwhelming to providers. However, utilizing this data in tools that provide analytics, AI, and Machine Learning, providers can track and predict spend, disease burden, RX compliance, utilization risk, and fragmented care that will allow interventions that create clinical and financial outcomes.
Some of the innovative tools we are seeing from digital health technologies include:
• Artificial Intelligence
• Digital Diagnostics
• Predictive Analytics
• Patient Engagement Tools
• Patient Portals
• Robotics
• Systems to analyze data to personalize treatment.
• Telemedicine
• Wearables
• And more
“Evidence shows that treatment adherence and outcomes are improved when patients are active participants in their own care, but ready access to evidence-based patient education content between visits is a critical gap in healthcare today,” said Jason Burum, Vice President and General Manager, Healthcare Provider Segment for Clinical Effectiveness at Wolters Kluwer. “With solutions like Wolters Kluwer’s Emmi, that content is more accessible than ever, to empower hospitals, health plans, and other members of the healthcare ecosystem to provide the credible, reliable educational resources to help patients take a role in managing their health.””
All healthcare professionals and payers should stay current to learn how to use these tools, introduce them to consumers, and measure the results to show outcomes.
These are exciting times, so enjoy the ride!
References
Peter G. Peterson Foundation: July 27, 2023. Healthcare Spending Will Be One-Fifth of the Economy within the Decade. https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2023/07/healthcare-spending-will-be-one-fifth-of-the-economy-within-a-decade
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: March 23,2023 https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/costs/index.htm