Examples Of Emerging Trends In Health Care

Emerging Trends

With increasing health care regulations and the need for greater value in health care, we are starting to see several new trends in the industry. These trends will require health care organizations to become highly adaptable to the changing environment. Leaders in these organizations will also need to set the example for ethical behavior and also provide motivation so that their staff can be more supportive and better equipped to embrace change.

Due to the long life expectancies in today’s society, we have been making the shift from an acute care model to treating an aging population with chronic conditions (Burns, Bradley, & Weiner, 2012, p. 401). Now, more than ever, there is a greater focus on preventative wellness initiatives

Traditionally, health care organizations have been highly complicated with respect to the cost of services. In an effort to set their services apart from the competition, a few organizations such as ZoomCare and the Surgery Center of Oklahoma have taken the initiative to disclose their pricing online. Hospital leaders are finding that they are either losing business to these companies or having to price match to remain competitive (Smith, 2014); this is an exciting victory for consumers who have faced the high-priced and unknown billing practices of facilities. The leadership team at the Surgery Center of Oklahoma is helping other physicians set up similar practices in other states because they feel that it is a step in the right direction (Smith, 2014). They provide high quality, efficient health care at lower costs, and they are still able to realize a profit (Smith, 2014). Transparent pricing has been helpful to individuals without insurance or for those who have high deductible health plans (HDHPs) and have to pay for most services out-of-pocket. Patients with these plans are becoming much wiser consumers because they have more financial responsibility for their own care. These consumers are shopping around for lower health care costs, and they are finding competition everywhere; locally, nationally, and

As the demand for services increase, healthcare leaders will need to ensure caregivers provide ethical treatment for patients, regardless of their insurance status. According to the Shortell &Kalunzy’s (2010) text, the American Hospital Association simplified the Patient’s Bill of Rights into a brochure titled, “Understanding Expectations, Rights, and Responsibilities” (Burns et al., 2012, p. 420). The rights include, “high quality hospital care, a clean and safe environment, involvement in your care, protection of our privacy, help when leaving the hospital, and help with your billing claims” (Burns et al., 2012, p. 420). These patient rights are important because some providers have been known to treat patients poorly, especially when Medicare and Medicaid are involved. This is because facilities have traditionally received little reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid for treating their members. However, this is all changing as we move toward pay-for-performance (P4P) programs. Under these P4P programs, hospitals and other facilities are incentivized to provide higher quality care, and they are reimbursed based on the quality standards set by private and public insurers (Burns et al., 2012, p. 371); the higher the quality of care, the higher the reimbursement will