The landscape of healthcare is changing. From the way patients interact with their physicians to the websites dedicated to transparency on pricing of common procedures such as an MRI. The power has shifted to the patient where just ten years ago, the patient was at the mercy of their physician and the administration of the medical facility.
With the shift in power, new jobs and excellent opportunities are continually opening up in the healthcare field. Today, hospitals and medical facility leaders are well-educated with high-level degrees such as an executive masters in health administration, but they are also excellent communicators. They are the face of the medical facilities, and for the hospital or medical center to remain competitive, they must keep their finger on the pulse of the community and implement ways to address their needs.
Here are four ways hospital leaders are making a difference.
Healthcare Innovation
Image via Flickr by dpict.info
In 2015, one of the biggest innovations in healthcare will come in the shape of the hospital experience. By modernizing rooms, a lot of the redundancy seen today will be eliminated. Also, the integration of more cloud-based intelligence software will allow physicians to utilize applications such as referral MD. Today, paper referrals result in up to 50 percent of patients never following up with the physician to whom they were referred. Utilization of cloud-based software is expected to facilitate further care needed by the patient, while reducing the paper trails created by physicians.
Transparency
Today, the correlation between cost and quality in healthcare is improving. The reason is transparency in the healthcare industry. Just because you pay more does not necessarily mean you are getting more. Programs such as Castlight are changing that. Castlight provides a database of information that reveal both the cost and quality of medical services. The power shifts to the patient and rewards facilities with good quality and fair prices, while casting light on overpriced and substandard quality.
Population Management
With Baby Boomers enrolling in Medicare and chronic disease reaching epidemic proportions, population health management is a must. Healthcare administrators must find a way to balance the systems so that data integration is possible. The systems must improve quality, lower cost and advance clinical outcomes. In addition to managing the massive amounts of health information, healthcare administrators are encouraging patient education through engagement and community integration. Programs such as mobile health can take healthcare to the people. Mobile health can improve overall health through preventative maintenance.
Risk Assessment
When looking at the overall health of an institution, a key factor is risk assessment. Administrators must promote identification of risks and then implement ways to reduce the identified risk. Some top-level administrators have put bonus incentives in place for identifying, reporting, and eliminating risk to employees and patients. They also implement training programs and other incentives that encourage participation for better understanding of risks at all levels.
With the healthcare industry becoming more transparent and competitive. Hospitals and medical centers around the world will need leaders in health care management with great communication skills that understand the needs of the community.