2018 Healthcare Trends Outlook: Banking on Value-Based Care, Data Analytics and Population Health

Sea Girt, NJ, January 17, 2018 --(PR.com)-- Having closed 2017 with the Affordable Care Act largely intact, the majority of healthcare organizations are commencing 2018 feeling generally positive, whether grading the previous twelve months of business or qualifying their corporate outlook for the coming year.

So found the thirteenth annual end-of-year Healthcare Trends Survey conducted by the Healthcare Intelligence Network.

Even factoring in the December repeal of the individual mandate, 60 percent of respondents to the December survey said 2017 was a better year business-wise than 2016, while 88 percent experienced favorable results in 2017 from the industry's ongoing shift to quality-based rewards.

Significantly, 63 percent believe their organizations are well-positioned to succeed under value-based reimbursement.

However, reaction to President Trump's October cost-sharing reduction payments (CSR) ruling and ACA-related executive orders was less than favorable, with 61 percent anticipating that those presidential actions would hurt healthcare.

It was one dark spot in feedback from 96 healthcare organizations responding to the healthcare publisher's 2018 Healthcare Trends & Forecasts survey. While 53 percent said the political climate impeded business growth or service expansion to some extent, politics did not hinder the launch of new initiatives in 2017. Many new ventures were linked to telehealth, including accreditation, biometric monitoring and chronic care management.

Health technology also drove some of 2017's savvier business decisions reported by respondents, including electronic health record (EHR) conversions, launching of online products, real-time reporting to monitor hospital admissions, discharges and ED use, and even the hiring of more young staff with computer skills.

Asked to quantify their biggest business regrets from 2017, a recurring theme included remorse over the delaying of key decisions or actions, such as creation of program infrastructure or hiring of essential personnel.

Download more metrics from the complimentary HINtelligence report, Healthcare Trends for 2018: Banking on Data Analytics, Population Health Management at http://www.hin.com/library/registertrends2018.html

News Facts: HIN's white paper, "Healthcare Trends for 2018: Banking on Data Analytics, Population Health Management," summarizes December 2017 feedback from 96 hospitals and health systems, population health management companies, health plans, behavioral health providers and others on the state of their business in 2018.

This 2018 healthcare forecast also captured the following trends:

- Of top concern to healthcare executives in 2017 were the demands of patient engagement, healthcare quality improvement and case management, each deemed by 30 percent of respondents to have had the most significant impact on business operations in the last twelve months;

- Data analytics is the top area to reinvest growing dividends from value-based payment models, say 15 percent. Other areas ripe for development include population health management (11 percent) and value-based reimbursement (11 percent).

- Eighteen percent of respondents will participate in the CMS Quality Payment Program Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) in 2018;

- Thirty percent said services and sales suffered from 2017's political climate, while 29 percent said politics impeded capital improvements; and

- Sixteen percent indicated that transition of care demands topped 2017's business impacts, while 14 percent cited social determinant of health priorities.

Overall, upticks in revenue, volume and quality improvement metrics and increased returns from technology made 2017 a better year for most, while flat revenue, uncertainty and slower-than-expected growth cast shadows over the past twelve months for 40 percent of respondents.

Download more metrics from the complimentary HINtelligence report, Healthcare Trends for 2018: Banking on Data Analytics, Population Health Management at http://www.hin.com/library/registertrends2018.html

"Much of respondents' positivity is tied to clinical and financial benefits they have experienced as a result of implementing value-based care. It will be exciting to monitor the synergies that technologies like telemedicine, artificial intelligence and robotics will bring to care coordination and population in the very near future." --Melanie Matthews, HIN Executive VP and COO

For Melanie Matthews's profile, please visit http://www.hin.com/bios.html#mm

Please contact Patricia Donovan to arrange an interview or to obtain additional quotes.

About the Healthcare Intelligence Network — HIN is the premier advisory service for executives seeking high-quality strategic information on the business of healthcare. For more information, contact the Healthcare Intelligence Network, PO Box 1442, Wall Township, NJ 07719-1442, (888) 446-3530, fax (732) 449-4463, e-mail info@hin.com, or visit http://www.hin.com.