Congratulations! You made it through another year! Although your practice might still be feeling some lingering effects of the pandemic, we hope that things are slowly working themselves to a new sense of normal.
As we enjoy the holiday season and reflect back on the successes and failures of the past year, it is useful to look ahead to the new year to see what potential opportunities and challenges await us.
Let’s take a look at some 2023 healthcare trends that are worth keeping an eye on, and what opportunities may exist for your practice.
- Telehealth/Telemedicine – We have discussed the potential of telehealth as well as some questions about telehealth that you should consider, so we will not go into too much detail here.
However, we felt telehealth should be included on this list of 2023 trends because it is only going to continue to grow in terms of availability and demand. There is opportunity there if you wish to explore the potential of telehealth for your practice.
- Customizing The Patient Experience – This is a broad and overarching topic because there are many ways to approach this idea. You can start with telehealth or general customer services issues like making an appointment or paying a bill. You can even go more advanced and look into something like the increased use of devices that allow you to monitor your patients blood pressure, sleep patterns, weight, glucose levels and other important vitals remotely.
The pandemic proved that there are many ways for providers to care for their patients.
As technology continues to advance and the general public becomes aware and more comfortable with how to use this technology, your patients will most likely look for some sort of personalized health plan that incorporates a variety of new technologies and methods. The opportunity (and challenge) for you as a provider is to understand what is available and determine what you are comfortable with employing in your day-to-day operations. - Increased Use of AI in Healthcare – One form of technology that is definitely trending is the use of AI in healthcare. It is not hard to find articles or papers that speak to the variety of uses that artificial intelligence can, may, or will have in healthcare. Because this is a technology that is continuously evolving, it might be hard to pinpoint exactly how it will impact your practice specifically.
That said, artificial intelligence in healthcare is only going to become more available and the uses more diverse. While you may not see exactly how AI may help your practice today, this is a trend that deserves at least a little attention because you never know what developments will happen in the near future that would make this technology more useful to you. - Increased Need for Cybersecurity – The increased use of technology is not all roses and opportunity. Threats in the form of cyber criminals looking to steal electronic data are very real. The more that you and your patients adopt various forms of technology, especially newer ones, the greater the potential threat is. In 2023, we imagine that there will be a greater focus on how medical practices, of all sizes, can better protect themselves and their patients from individuals and groups looking to do them harm.
The opportunity here is to recognize the threat and take it seriously. Do an audit of your security measures to ensure that your data is properly protected and make sure your staff is properly trained regarding cybersecurity. - Continued Focus On Burnout Amongst Healthcare Providers – Our November 2022 blog dealt with the idea of burnout amongst medical providers. This is not something that is simply going to go away. If ignored, it is more likely to only get worse.
Similar to cybersecurity, the opportunity here is to recognize the threat of burnout in your practice. Do what you can to prevent it and, if necessary, recognize it. Our blog has some great ideas on how you can fight burnout amongst your staff.
These are not the only trends that may or may not impact your practice, but these are ones that we believe are most likely to have an effect on the most providers. It may be worth your time to evaluate which trend(s) may pose the greatest opportunity for growth for your practice.