Here are five key thoughts on what providers can do to address some of the biggest challenges in healthcare today, according to Deloitte's 2016 Health Care Providers Industry Outlook: Interview With Mitchell Morris, MD report.
1. Move toward connected health with digital media, health technology and mobile devices. This includes teleheath, mHealth and eHealth services for easily communicating patient data and sharing data with providers on the patient's care team.
2. Adopt digital tools geared toward meeting population health and value-based care goals. But don't just focus on the digital; keep your physicians and employees informed and involved in new initiatives and motivated to use new tools because they understand how it will improve patient care.
3. Embrace new partnerships as services overlap in accountable care models. Healthcare providers can adopt new competitive strategies by strengthening alliances with health plans and aligning incentives with other providers.
4. In the future, value-based care may become necessary and require providers to report on quality measures. The quality measures will lay the foundation for a pay-for-value system.
5. Vertical and horizontal consolidation can position providers for inclusion in narrow networks. The larger organizations can also achieve scale, manage cost units and lay the foundation for value-based care.