US Healthcare Issues in 2011

Introduction

During a recent ACHE faculty conference call, we brainstormed about US healthcare issues in 2011 that are likely to have an impact in 2012, including:

1) Revenue-Expense considerations:

• The growth of medical tourism and support from payers for its continuation and expansion
• Increasing community pressure to take away hospitals’ tax-exempt status
• Implications of the green movement on renovation and new facility construction, increasing initial expense but offering the possibility of decreased maintenance costs in the future

2) Computers and the Internet:

• Approaching deadlines for meaningful use compliance
• The role of health information exchanges in sharing data
• The impact of the HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey on patients’ perceptions and market behavior
• The ICD-9 to ICD-10 conversion deadline of October 1, 2013
• Robotics
• Virtual physician extenders, such as e-ICUs
• Social media and the need to monitor online communication in real time
• The challenges of maintaining patient privacy and sizeable fines for lack of compliance

3) Innovation and Complexity:

• Personalized medicine- diagnostic and therapeutic implications
• Decreased spare capacity, resulting in shortages when manufacturing capacity becomes constrained, for example, drug shortages
• The blurring of clinical and administrative functions, requiring ongoing education for providers to recognize the system implications of their daily clinical routines as we become more clinically integrated
• The political polarity affecting healthcare delivery reform

Conclusion Regarding US Healthcare Issues in 2011

 Regardless of the decision of the Supreme Court regarding the individual mandate, healthcare professionals will experience increasing pressure to provide more interdependent, coordinated, and cost-effective care for two reasons: our current level of spending is unsustainable, and it is the right thing to do for patients and their families, something that we wish for our loved ones who need care.

• What do you think
• Which issues do you think will be our greatest concerns in 2012
• What issues have I left out that merit consideration

As always, I welcome your input to improve healthcare collaboration where you work.

Best wishes for a happy and productive new year, and please contact me any time that I can be of continuing service to you as you cope with multiple priorities at the same time. 

Kenneth H. Cohn

© 2012, all rights reserved

Disclosure:

I have not received any compensation for writing this content. I have no material connection to the brands, topics and/or products that are mentioned herein.

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