Tracking the Evolution of Top Health Trends and Issues During the Trump Era

By Clive Riddle, December 13, 2019

Every December, the PwC Health Research Institute - like many other organizations – releases their compiled list of the top health issues from their perspective, for the coming year. This year their headline question posed from their list is “will digital start to show an ROI?” PwC hasn’t been married to the Dave Letterman Top Ten format – this and last year they identified six key issues, two years ago it was a dozen, three years ago they did pick ten.

 Here’s a summary of their top six issues for 2020 from their 53-page report:

1. A looming tsunami of high prices – “facing a tsunami of high-priced gene and cell therapies and ever-rising provider prices in 2020” stakeholders will pursue “creative ways to finance care, spread risk and ensure that their money is paying for value.”
2. Regulation trumps policy – “the outcome of the 2020 election is unlikely to bring about profound” change but the election will determine the fate of Trump policies on Medicaid, ACA, pricing transparency and trade.
3. Consumers inch closer to DIY healthcare – Consumers will “finally reap benefits from the enormous investments in data collection, storage and analysis that have been made by the US health industry.”
4. US health organizations are seeking opportunities overseas and through innovation. Beware of the tax risks.
5. A whole new you: Deals as makeovers – with “strategic deals not to just grow larger but instead to expand into new identities with platforms anchored in value, innovation, customer experience and population health.”
6. Equity and inclusion, not just diversity, as a business imperative – “health companies will align diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives with business goals and identify blind spots.”

So, using the PwC annual list as a yardstick, how has a view of the top healthcare issues for coming year evolved during the Trump years? Using previous Healthsprocket lists that summarized the PwC issues, here’s how they viewed the coming year for 2019, 2018 and 2017:

PwC: 6 top health industry issues of 2019

1. Digital therapeutics and connected care reshape the life sciences industry
2. The Affordable Care Act in 2019: Still Alive
3. Your company’s new, upskilled health worker of the future is you
4. Tax reform has only just begun for healthcare companies
5. Creating the Southwest Airlines of healthcare
6. Private equity: Healthcare’s new growth accelerator

PwC: Top 12 health industry issues of 2018

1. The healthcare industry tackles the opioid crisis
2. Social determinants come to the forefront
3. Price transparency moves to the statehouse
4. Natural disasters create devastation that lasts long after the event passes
5. Medicare Advantage swells in 2018
6. Health reform isn't over, it's just more complicated
7. Securing the internet of things
8. Patient experience as a priority and not just a portal
9. Meet your new coworker, artificial intelligence
10. Healthcare's endangered middlemen: PBMs, wholesalers
11. Real-world evidence a growing challenge for pharma
12. Tax reform moves forward

PwC - Top 10 health issues for 2017

1. Under a new administration, the fate of the ACA remains unclear
2. Pharma’s new strategic partner? Patients
3. Easing the training wheels off value-based payment
4. Insert your card here for healthcare
5. Paging Dr. Drone: It’s time to prepare for emerging technologies
6. The battle against infectious diseases sparks invention
7. Rx cauliflower: Nutrition moves to population health
8. Putting the brakes – gently - on drug prices
9. A year of new partnerships and collaborations
10. Preparing medical students for work in a value-based world