Healthcare leaders are charting new courses to address complex financial challenges while driving innovation and transformation. Huron’s recent survey surfaces insights from 300 healthcare executives across the U.S., shedding light on the key trends, challenges, and growth areas that are shaping the industry.
Leaders’ responses indicate they’re strategically thinking about the relationship between cost, performance, growth, and care and how data and technology is pivotal to building an organization poised for the future.
Navigating financial complexities
Healthcare executives are acutely aware of the financial pressures confronting their organizations from rising labor and supply costs to declining reimbursements. These pressures demand strategic approaches that balance immediate cost-cutting with long-term sustainability.
Leaders are focusing on optimizing business operations to drive cost savings, particularly through improved supply chain management and workforce efficiency. Increased human-machine collaboration will become the norm as organizations increasingly rely on artificial intelligence (AI) to ease staff workloads and workforce shortages. Redefining portfolios and innovating business and care models emerge as more transformational approaches to improve margins.
Prioritizing care transformation
Transforming care delivery is a pivotal focus to meet the needs of the organization and its communities. Without re-imagining clinical delivery models, health systems will not be able to unlock the level of cost transformation needed to sustain margins and remain competitive.
Executives are prioritizing patient-centered approaches to enhance care quality and accessibility. By investing in remote patient monitoring, personalized care models, and intelligent automation, healthcare organizations are working to improve patient health and engagement while reducing the total cost of care. More than two-thirds (70%) of executives plan to invest in intelligent automation to improve care delivery.
Accelerating digital transformation
Recognizing that a strong digital foundation is essential for handling vast amounts of data and enhancing decision-making, digital infrastructure emerges as the No. 1 trend and challenge for healthcare organizations. Leaders are ramping up investments in data management and advanced analytics to sharpen insights, creating more agile and proactive healthcare systems.
To support emerging technologies and connect data across the enterprise for real-time application, renewed focus on optimizing core systems and resolving interoperability challenges cannot be overlooked.
Fostering innovation
Innovation remains at the core of healthcare strategies, with leaders seeking to implement cutting-edge technologies and novel approaches to overcome industry challenges. Artificial intelligence and automation are at the forefront, offering potential solutions to enhance operational efficiencies and innovate care delivery. Executives are carefully evaluating AI use cases to ensure alignment with organizational goals and digital transformation strategies and to maximize their return on investment.
Preparing for future growth
With a clearer vision for the future, healthcare leaders are positioning their organizations to capitalize on emerging opportunities. By focusing on core improvements and strategic investments, healthcare organizations are laser-focused on building a system ready to adapt to change, drive growth, and continue evolving to meet the needs of tomorrow’s consumers, their families, and their communities.
