Financial Challenges Facing the Healthcare Industry

Financial management has always been a crucial element of healthcare. In the wake of the pandemic, however, it’s taken an increasingly important role. Here are the biggest challenges facing the healthcare industry in 2022:

?1)???Recovering from the Covid-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the medical field as healthcare workers became burdened with facility beds filling up at record rates. Some ways the industry is preparing for another pandemic include:

• Investing in better forecasting after supply chain disruptions and shortages.
• Spending more on staffing and safety measures, including personal protective equipment (PPE), staffing, and infrastructure.
• Investments are also being made in remote workforces and cybersecurity.

?2)???Global Supply Chain Delays

When the pandemic hit in 2020, it sent shock waves through global supply chains as production in every industry came to a halt. The effects of those stoppages are still being felt to this day. A study shows, 99% of U.S. hospitals and other health care systems have reported challenges in acquiring supplies since the pandemic, with eight in ten reporting supply shortages caused them to seek out new vendors for supplies.

?3)???New Restrictions and Regulations

The evolving regulatory environment has had a significant impact on healthcare business management as well as how providers can supply care. The use of digital health tools, such as telemedicine and artificial intelligence (AI), emerged to fill gaps during the pandemic. These innovations are not without their unique challenges. Organizations are now having to figure out how to deploy these new technologies while staying in compliance with changing regulations.

4)???Growing Need for Cybersecurity

With the emergence of digital health tools, concerns about cybersecurity are increasing. A recent study showed more than two-thirds of healthcare organizations reported ransomware strikes, and at least 33% reported two or more. The total downtime cost of these attacks is nearly $21 billion. Another study found 74% of all healthcare data breaches stem from hacking and IT incidents, which can be attributed to:

• Understaffed IT departments
• Legacy technologies improperly configured for new medical technology
• Lack of interoperability standards

?5)???Labor Shortages

The pandemic accelerated burnout among healthcare providers and staff, worsening labor shortages across the industry. The labor shortages are reducing the availability of physicians, nurses, and lab technicians. In fact, nursing is being hit the hardest. According to federal data, the United States will lose about 500,000 nurses by the end of 2022, which will increase the nursing shortage to 1.1 million. A competitive talent market is also contributing to the labor shortages as more and more administrative workers opt for part-time jobs and hybrid roles rather than committing to full-time positions.?