PricewaterhouseCoopers released the list of top 10 issues for the health industry during next year. The consulting firm believes that 2016 will be a year of firsts for healthcare consumers, organizations and new entrants as innovative tools and services enter the New Health Economy. PwC is looking at the forces that are expected to have the most impact on the industry in the coming year, with a glance back at key trends from the past decade.
Without further ado, here are PwC’s top 10 health industry issues of 2016:
1. Merger mania
High-profile mergers and acquisitions likely will continue in 2016, with regulators taking center stage in the debate over how consolidation impacts consumers.
2. Goldilocks comes to drug prices
Reminiscent of the proverbial story of Goldilocks, the search is on for a drug pricing formula that is “just right.”
3. Care in the palm of your hand
Thanks to technology and shifts in financial incentives, care will begin to move into the palms of consumers’ hands, providing care anywhere, anytime.
4. Cyber-security concerns
As security breaches become more common and costly, attention shifts to buttressing the security of medical devices.
5. The new money managers
Shouldering higher deductibles, consumers seek help managing their health spending with fresh tools and services developed by players new and old.
6. Behavioral healthcare
Employers and healthcare organizations eye behavioral healthcare as key to keeping costs down, productivity up and consumers healthy.
7. Care moves to the community
As payment shifts to value-based models, health systems will pursue lower-cost settings more aggressively than before while employing creative approaches to distributing care.
8. New databases improve patient care and consumer health
New databases and database tools will allow industry players to analyze data from many sources in new ways, unlocking insights embedded in the reams of information being collected about health consumers.
9. Biosimilars
Biosimilars, lower-cost substitutes for branded biologic drugs, are expected to begin to offer some counterweight to rising drug prices in 2016, much as generic drugs did 30 years ago.
10. The medical cost mystery
In the journey to value-based care, health systems dig in to calculate the true cost of services, an exercise that also can uncover opportunities to become more efficient and improve care.
All the details are available from the full report.