Healthcare organizations face numerous challenges, including margin pressures, workforce shortages, and complicated tech and regulatory mazes. However, the finance and operations leaders in the industry remain focused on securing the talent, tools, and relationships necessary to advance care for their communities.
Leaders from across the U.S. gathered at J.P. Morgan’s 11th annual Healthcare Advisory Council (HCAC) in October to explore emerging approaches to managing costs, investing in organizational innovation, and prioritizing patients’ needs. Here are a few key takeaways from the discussions:
Experience is everything
In an increasingly consumer-driven healthcare market, healthcare organizations and tech companies recognize the importance of providing a customer-friendly and frictionless experience to patients. From online interactions to in-person appointments and billing, every aspect of a patient’s interaction with the system should be convenient and trustworthy. Patients choose where to direct their money based on convenience and trust.
Tools and platforms continue to emerge to make it easier for patients to access records, schedule appointments, check in at visits, and communicate with providers. Leaders highlighted convenience and transparency as vital for earning patients’ trust and loyalty.
Mike Browning, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for OhioHealth, emphasized the importance of customer service as one of his organization’s main initiatives. He mentioned a team of navigators who assist patients in oncology departments as an example of a useful tool for improving the patient experience. Browning believes the industry should strive to make all service offerings easy for patients.
Other takeaways regarding the patient experience include:
- Recognized digital payment options like Apple Pay and QR code enrolment facilitate point-of-service interactions.
- Patients increasingly expect price transparency and clear billing estimates to understand their financial obligations beforehand.
- Patients evaluate the quality of a healthcare facility based on access and ease of navigation, not insider metrics such as hospital-acquired infection rates.
Connectivity drives quality
Leaders in the healthcare industry consistently emphasize that proactive collaboration between providers and other stakeholders leads to better health outcomes at lower costs. At HCAC, leaders stressed the importance of finding a balance between pragmatism and openness to creativity in an evolving landscape.
Panel participants showcased how they integrate preventative care into various points of contact:
- Medical practices reserve open time slots for conducting mammograms during patients’ other office visits.
- Programs for seniors proactively teach fall prevention rather than waiting to treat broken bones.
- Digital monitoring tools help providers manage patients’ chronic conditions while they are at home.
AI is already affecting healthcare
With the advent of large language models like ChatGPT in 2023, the healthcare industry is looking to the future and how artificial intelligence can transform healthcare delivery. However, AI and machine learning are part of the ongoing trend of automation in healthcare.
Maneesh Goyal, COO of the Mayo Clinic Platform at Mayo Clinic, emphasized that while new technology may change how health organizations tackle problems, it does not offer shortcuts.
“AI is not software; software is not a solution; solutions aren’t business models,” Goyal said. “You have to understand why you’re implementing a project and ensure that the context is attached to the tool, whether it’s AI or not. And you have to follow through the change management process to fully benefit.”
Other insights on AI include:
- AI is already used in areas such as clinical documentation and utilization review.
- In a labor market with limited resources, AI and machine learning can support human staff by helping them prioritize their time.
- AI excels in probabilistic reasoning, not deterministic decision-making. It can sift through vast amounts of data to assist in clinical decision-making, but it does not learn or provide clinical knowledge.
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