What's Predicted in Healthcare for the Dawn of a New Decade

by Clive Riddle, January 3, 2019

As we enter 2020, what are prognosticators sensing the start of the new decade will bring forth in the healthcare arena? Here's nine recent HealthSprocket lists that peek into year ahead:

Deloitte offers these ten overall Healthcare and Life Sciences Predictions 2020:

1. Health consumers in 2020: Informed and demanding patients are now partners in their own healthcare
2. Health care delivery systems in 2020: The era of digitized medicine - new business models drive new ideas
3. Wearables and mHealth applications in 2020: Measuring quality of life not just clinical indicators
4. Big Data in 2020: Health data is pervasive- requiring new tools and provider models
5. Regulation in 2020: Regulations reflect the convergence of technology and science
6. Research and Development in 2020: The networked laboratory - partnerships and big data amidst new scrutiny
7. The pharmaceutical commercial model in 2020: Local is important but with a shift from volume to value
8. The pharmaceutical enterprise configuration - the back office in 2020: Single, global, and responsible for insight enablement
9. New business models in emerging markets in 2020: Still emerging, but full of creativity for the world
10. Impact of behaviors on corporate reputation in 2020: A new dawn of trust

Becker's Hospital Review summarized these S&P 7 healthcare trends to watch in 2020 with a financial marketplace perspective: 

1. Changes in healthcare may speed up
2. Industry disruption will continue
3. Rating deterioration will continue
4. Mergers among payers and other players will pressure pricing
5. M&A activity in the healthcare industry will remain elevated
6. Opioid litigation settlements will accelerate
7. Medical device makers will see a stable 2020

On the life sciences front, Syneos Health offers these Pharma Trends for 2020: 

1. The Many Points of Care - shifting away from where clinic exists to wherever patient goes
2. Better, By Design - big shifts in clinical research user experience
3. The Trust Deficit - initiatives to win trust back from people
4. Patient Value - patient-centricity
5. Digital Amplification and Innovation - digital experiences taking another big step forward
6. The Value Evaluation - to show initial population-relevant data and defend value against constant change
7. Answering to Real World - get ahead of both regulatory requirements and payer expectations
8. Connected Communications - personal communications that understand where people are in their individual journeys
9. Rapidly Changing Life Experience - Our world is changing and aging faster than ever before
10. New Strategic Blueprint - resetting focus on core assets, building ROI models around the yield of data investments

And Managed Healthcare Executive adds the pharmaceutical benefit perspective with Eight Trends Expected to Shape Managed Care Pharmacy in 2020:

1. Continued shift to value-based care
2. Increased integration of medical and pharmacy benefits
3. Drug prices will continue challenging patients, payers, and providers
4. Medication systems will gain connectivity
5. Precision medicine will mature
6. Ongoing emphasis on social determinants of health (SDoH)
7. Pharmacists emerge as primary care providers.
8. Consumers will become more cautious about prescribed medications

With respect to life sciences and healthcare, the Cleveland Clinic published their annual Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2020:

1. Dual-Acting Osteoporosis Drug
2. Expanded Use of Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Surgery
3. Inaugural Medication for Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy
4. Therapy for Mitigation of Peanut Allergies
5. Closed-Loop Spinal Cord Stimulation
6. Biologics in Orthopaedic Repair
7. Antibiotic Envelope for Cardiac Implantable Device Infection Prevention
8. Bempedoic Acid for Cholesterol Lowering in Statin Intolerant Patients
9. PARP Inhibitors for Maintenance Therapy in Ovarian Cancer
10. Drugs for Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Turning to technological oriented trends, Health Data Management lists these 8 Healthcare trends that will rock medical care in the 2020s:

1. Artificial intelligence
2. Digital health tools
3. Imaging technology
4. Data sharing and interoperability
5. Patient communication and engagement
6. Payer evolution
7. Precision medicine
8. Virtual or remote care

In the same vein, Forbes published 9 technology trends that will transform medicine and healthcare in 2020:

1. AI and Machine Learning
2. Robotics
3. Computer and Machine Vision
4. Wearable Tech
5. Genomics
6. 3D Printing
7. Extended Reality (Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality)
8. Digital Twins
9. 5G

How does all this shape health policy? The Hill tells us there will be Five health care fights to watch in 2020:

1. Drug pricing
2. Surprise billing
3. ObamaCare
4. Medicare for All
5. Vaping

And finally, here's a summary of Seven Quick Takes on Healthcare Trends Shaping 2020 previously posted in mcolblog:

1. Election Year Policy Angst
2. Expanding Impact of Medicaid Expansion
3. One More Year for SDoH Before ROI Naysayers
4. Viral Value Based Payment
5. Health Technolytics - Healthcare Analytics + Technology
6. Morphing Point of Care and Coverage
7. Behind the Veil of Pricing Transparency and the CMS Final Rule

Happy New Year and New Decade!