What You Should Know From Two Healthcare Events

I attended two events this week regarding the future of healthcare. I’d love to share what I learned and hear your thoughts on the intersection of healthcare and technology.

First, at The Economic Club of Grand Rapids , Dr Kaveh Safavi from 埃森哲 outlined four key aspects shaping the future of healthcare.

1. Future of work: We are running out of people to do the work in healthcare. The population growth over the age of 60 in the U.S. is 46%. With an aging population and declining numbers of healthcare workers, technology is expected to play a greater role in tasks like documentation. Currently, a nurse spends 40% of their time just writing down patient info. Could new technology free up time for better patient care?

2. Future of experience: Healthcare is evolving toward a blend of physical and digital interactions.?

• ?The 1990’s was the Internet of Data
• The 2000’s was the Internet of People
• The 2010’s was the Internet of Things
• The 2020’s is the Internet of Place - This includes scenarios where remote professionals could handle patient documentation, while onsite staff focus on patient care—improving efficiency.

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3. Future of payment: Traditional value-based healthcare payment approaches in the U.S. tried to provide financial incentives for people to make healthy choices. Moving forward, a shift in payment methods may be necessary.?

?The landscape over the last 10 years was to provide financial incentives to make good healthy choices. The experiments of value based payments didn’t work. The challenge we are facing now is we can’t incentivize our way in to healthier choices.?

An example in the Netherlands was discussed. Everyone in the country needs to have insurance. A hospital needed to be rebuilt. It was an aging community. 70% of the money the hospital received was from one insurance provider. They put together a 10 year contract. They created a financial model to match providers with insurers. While this worked in the Netherlands, it likely won’t work in the U.S. according to Dr. Safavi. He predicted a change in how we pay would need to happen.

?4. Future of science: Scientific innovations are expected to transform healthcare by reducing the need for certain services and focusing on prevention. Safavi quoted William Mayo: “The aim of medicine is to prevent disease and prolong life. The ideal of medicine is to eliminate the need of a physician.”

Overall, as the population ages, there's a need for innovative solutions to ensure efficient and effective healthcare delivery for future generations.

The second event I attended was a CEO panel on healthcare featuring:

• Amber Hoover from High Grade Materials
• Bruce Tap from Fastco Industries
• Nelson Sanchez from Roman Manufacturing
• Tom Ross from Grand Rapids Aseptic Manufacturing

They shared how they manage rising healthcare costs by focusing on what their teams desire the most.

?Each company took unique approaches:

“We were getting high claims in ER visits. The employees were going even if they had a cold. This was difficult, so we adjusted to a concierge plan. We have a lower utilization rate because most of our team members are on the road. But the word is getting out and employees are feeling cared for.” –Amber

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“When you are in a fully funded plan, you don’t know what your claims are. We joined a health care captive to be a part of like minded companies and spread costs out.” –Bruce

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“We take care of our employees. Understanding what team members want is important. We had an issue switching dental plans and needed to ask if we should switch back.” –Nelson

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“When we were small, we offered great benefits. This allowed us to scale. We are now one of the fastest growing companies in the country.” –Tom

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Q&A: I’m curious what you all think about the future of healthcare.

Will technology be able to improve care while reducing costs?

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