Seven Indirect COVID-19 Healthcare Business Implications, and Nostalgia for a 2020 Top Ten Healthcare Issues Infographic

By Clive Riddle, March 20, 2020

The HealthCare Executive Group (HCEG) recently released their 2020 HCEG Top 10 Infographic​ with summary data and insights garnered from the 10​th​ Annual  Industry Pulse Research Survey, which is shared below.

Of course, HCEG prepared the infographic based on their survey conducted well before COVID-19 sucked all the current oxygen out of the room in which most other healthcare issues are being discussed. Their survey results would undoubtedly look much different today, and almost feels nostalgic in a way.

Which poses the question – so how is COVID-19 impacting other key aspects of the business of healthcare.  Boundless information and discussion from true experts is coming forth daily on the public health implications and matters related directly to the pandemic. But what about the indirect implications, that will emerge as the year progresses?

Here’s a short list of seven items that come to mind, beyond the oft-stated concerns that the available healthcare clinician and support labor pool is at risk of being diminished from applicable quarantines, lack of personal protective equipment, and sickness within the healthcare workforce; as well as major concerns about hospital bed capacity:

1. RePrioritization: The strain on healthcare organizations while addressing COVID-19 issues, both as a provider and as an employer, will continue to cause other aspects of delivery of services to suffer as resources and attention are re-prioritized.
2. Deferral Cost: This will cause mounting deferral of non COVID-19 related care. Initially non COVID-19 healthcare costs and utilization will be lower than average, but after COVID-19 hopefully runs its course, these costs will escalate well above benchmark levels both due to pent-up demand plus increased services and costs with applicable worsening conditions resulting from deferral of care.
3. Uninsured: The uninsured population will increase significantly due to the economic slowdown driven by the pandemic and required response. Various past legislative and administrative measures to chop away at the ACA during the past three years will result in a weakened safety net.
4. Uncertainty: Uncertainty will reign in the short term for the general, and healthcare business environment, causing longer range business strategic initiatives to be paused.
5. Recession: Healthcare capital spending, M&A activity, and long-range initiative funding such as SDOH investments will thus slow down as this new Recessions escalates.
6. Policy: Healthcare election year policy reform issues will morph, both addressing public health policy issues, as well as coverage issues as the uninsured population increases.
7. Permanent Changes: Some required changes to clinical and business practices during this pandemic will evolve into longer range changes in clinical practices and how healthcare organizations do business.

Successful healthcare organizations in 2020 will somehow juggle and balance navigating the COVID-19 landscape while still keeping an eye on the ball of all the other issues that remain or result after COVID-19 hopefully subsides.

Speaking of keeping an eye on the other balls being juggled, and thus getting back to the HCEG infographic, here’s a reminder of their top ten items 2020 listed in the infographic, which we someday, somehow need to find our way back to, when we’re ready to move forward:

1. Cost& Transparency
2. Consumer Experience
3. Delivery System Transformation
4. Data & Analytics
5. Interoperability / Consumer Data Access
6. Holistic Individual Health
7. Next Generation Payment Models
8. Accessible Points of Care
9. Healthcare Policy
10. Privacy / Security