2021 was an unsettling year for everyone, much more than 2020. We were still in the arms of the pandemic, when nations across the world started noticing major future trends in healthcare. For example, we saw a rise in telehealth care, which skyrocketed during the pandemic. Experts say, around 32% of most of the outpatient visits happened via telehealth care.
COVID-19 has not left us yet- it continues to rage the world over. Healthcare workers across the world have witnessed many patients complaining of burnouts and professional stress especially. Sources from the well-known Washington Post/ Kaiser Family Foundation did a survey of one thousand and more front-line healthcare workers in the USA while the pandemic was on. Fifty-five percent of them reported exhaustion, both mental and physical from chronic workplace stress. The highest rate was amongst the staff that were the youngest- aged between 18-29. They also reported a high negative impact on mental health repercussions. Hence, mental health has been on the radar this time around- quite high as an emerging healthcare trend for 2022.
When it came to patients, most individuals have either not bothered to continue with their medical care or have delayed it altogether, say experts from the medical world. From recommended cancer screenings to acute health treatments- either its been stalled by them or completely delayed, say health experts.
Over the past twenty four months, the world all over has seen a global revolution with regard to healthcare- it has changed, and the way we see it too has undergone a transformation. Healthcare has evolved to a large extent- thanks to the advancement of newer technologies, which has become a boon for people and healthcare workers alike. With that being said, here are five major emerging trends in healthcare 2022 is seeing and is here to stay. Please read on and be well-informed.
1) The focus now is on mental health
Ever since the pandemic hit, there has been a large surge in the aspects of mental health. From burnouts due to work from home to professional stress and more, there have been many mental health crisis’ that have come by- people are thus falling prey to drug and substance abuse- overdoses too. Sources from the well-known CDC say that from April 2020 till April 2021, there have been many fatalities that were related to drug and substance abuse- with a 12 month all-time high involving one hundred thousand people. This year, mental health is going to take center stage, say the experts- particularly for employers who need to update their health plans, expanding it to mental health services, says a source from CDC.
2) Cloud technology and telehealth would be expanded
Clinicians are having more access to data, much more than before. Hospitals therefore are maximizing the use of the data with an integrated systems approach. What this means, is that most big hospitals are moving from their offsite premises to cloud solutions. Telehealth and remote work has become very popular now, say experts. Therefore, it is important for hospitals to have access to data outside the four walls as well. With cloud technology, any IT team would be able to manage remotely and even update mobile devices through MDM or mobile device management. With the help of MDM, IT teams now can get their firmware updated and perform tasks in a matter of minutes, say experts. Hence, valuable time is saved, and so are lives.
3) Care from hospitals are shifted
For patient care, one doesn’t have to rely or go to hospitals anymore. Nowadays, there is a rise in ambulatory groups and physician groups, all over the world- in developing nations too. According to sources from Definitive Healthcare, they say that around 2.4 billion procedure claims were coming to them from a hospital facility in 2021. This was lower than what they saw in 2016- 38.7% to be exact- thanks to the emerging healthcare trends of shifting care from hospitals these days. One cannot blame COVID-19 entirely for the shift, since physician groups now have started treating their patients from locations that aren’t hospitals, pre-pandemic too.
4) The growth of remote patient monitoring
The growth of telehealth has been a dominative one- much more since the start of the pandemic. Therefore, remote patient monitoring has seen a triple-digit growth since 2020, say experts from the world of medicine. RPM or remote patient monitoring is a very new way to care for patients, using state-of-the-art technology and to gain clinical data on patients that don’t have access to regular clinical care. With the use of RPM, experts say that digital technology involved helps catch the physiological healthcare data gathered from patients through electronic means- its then shared with healthcare providers for further analysis and assessments. An adoption plateau has been seen with telehealth, but remote patient monitoring is gaining more and more popularity this time around.
5) The growth of low-cost models and options will be high
Everyone is scared of high bills and costs that hospitals throw at them. This is why, federal governments, employers and consumers worldwide are looking for newer healthcare options and payment models, along with care deliver channels and innovations that they hope will bring an improvement to healthcare with lower affordable costs. Employers are looking for alternatives in traditional health care and plans, encouraging the use of wellness programs, showing ways for low-cost options to employees, and more. You have onsite clinics and even fitness programs these days, with more emphasis on mental health and well-being being served. There is so much on line these days, which is why, healthcare incumbents and market disruptors are working hard to bring in more newer solutions around. From new payment models, to remote healthcare monitoring, telehealth and more, these are some of the newest healthcare trends emerging this time around.
So here were the five major healthcare trends to keep a watch on for 2022 and beyond. Do let us know what you think about the same- we would be glad to hear from you as well as read your comments on this topic. We hope you enjoyed reading this article as we have done a lot of research to bring this information to you, and enjoyed working on it as well.
Stay safe, stay healthy!
