Future of healthcare

Digital disruptors, sector reforms and post-pandemic experiences are shaping public expectations of healthcare services. Healthcare providers need to leverage on personalised care, digital services and products to meet evolving consumer needs to deliver equitable healthcare access and ensure seamless modern experiences.

A workforce crisis is undermining today’s healthcare delivery systems. The high rate of burnout and illness incurred during the pandemic has resulted in increased attrition among healthcare workers. This complex challenge requires new workforce strategies involving regulatory, academic, community and health-system players to address current and long-term workforce needs. Modernising healthcare by reducing labor-intensive and inefficient processes through the broader use of digital solutions can help accelerate progress.

An uncertain economic climate is posing profound challenges for healthcare leaders. A focus on modern strategies can improve operational efficiencies, create new revenue models and takeouts, and deliver value-based care to accelerate financial recovery. 

The healthcare sector is being disrupted by non-traditional entrants like startups and global players from other industries. Health providers and payors should capitalise on this trend to partner, govern and operate with new entrants to meet consumer demand for modern health and wellness services. To maintain customer trust and confidence, providers need to ensure continued emphasis on robust privacy and security regimes and consumer-centric system redesign.

Geopolitical and post-pandemic impacts have significantly disrupted global healthcare supply chains in areas like pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and equipment. To counter this, some jurisdictions have built local manufacturing capacity to mitigate dependence on external sources or have substituted local resources to offset external shortages. These supply chain changes are likely to require health systems to creatively assess clinical and operating models while competing more intensely for scarce resources.

In many parts of the world, health systems remain in the early adopter stage of tech and innovation. Capitalising on the value of modern technology will require health enterprises to establish new operating models that unlock value from legacy ways of working. Robust data-governance and data management capabilities will likely be required to convert proliferating data into insights that enable forecasting, planning, and bolder decision-making.