Healthcare Is Changing, Right? Here’s 5 Reasons It’s Not.

We hear it every day, right? Articles and headlines touting “the healthcare industry is constantly evolving and changing” to be more consumer-focused and patient-centric. But is that really all that true? While ideas of innovation, news articles of the next big thing, and healthcare conferences are more exciting than actual healthcare improvements, tangible change feels…. questionable. 

We can all hope for a better future, but the reality is that a number of issues continue to hold back progress and hinder improvements in patient care in the present – and that’s not okay. Here are the five biggest healthcare obstacles standing in the way of meaningful change – and what organizations should be doing about them:

1. Infrastructure from 1983 really ain’t for me. Despite years of investment in health technology and infrastructure, healthcare systems still rely heavily on patchy legacy systems that are not always up to the task of supporting evidence-based decision-making and advanced analytics. What does this mean for patients? We’re still logging into multiple portals, waiting days for diagnostic updates, sitting in call queues, and maybe, occasionally, potentially getting a call back within the timeframe that was promised. 

2. It’s all about the money, money, money. Rising cost pressures from insurance companies, regulations aimed at reducing costs, and a generally complex and fragmented payment system can limit innovations that could improve patient outcomes. For insurers, this means contracting is always a question. For providers, it can feel like protocol is more important than action. And for patients, it means no matter how well you’re insured, or how much you can afford, you’re still never quite sure how much you’re going to pay for that procedure, or test, or checkup, months after the appointment. 

3. Where’s the (data) security team? Healthcare companies often fail to provide sufficient data privacy protection for patient information, inhibiting the potential for innovation in research and analytics. And healthcare companies that collect data often block patients from accessing their data. Getting information from one doctor to another? We’re still pulling teeth – both literally and figuratively – to sustain an integrated, data-secured, patient-first way of managing healthcare data. And it’s 2023! 

4. I literally have no clue what you’re saying. Have you ever asked a chef to fix your car? Expecting patients to deeply understand the healthcare system is about as productive. Many patients do not understand how their healthcare works, or why it is important to embrace preventive care initiatives such as health screenings. In fact, more and more health care consumers are afraid to even talk to a doctor for fear of being judged, laughed at for asking questions, or charged exuberant and indescribable line items for asking the question.  We have to make things simpler – and we have to do it NOW. 

5. But We’ve Always Done it This Way…. Unfortunately, some healthcare professionals continue to view new technologies as disruptive or unnecessary and resist change within their own long-term practices instead of embracing opportunities for growth. And it’s not just the care providers – it’s also the insurers, the managed care groups, the vendor management teams, and the IT resources. If that mindset continues, patients will have the expectation of a smartphone and end up with a landline every single time they engage with providers. And at the rates patients are paying that’s unacceptable. 

Organizations need to work together to bridge the gap between where they currently stand and where they need to be to ensure their patients receive the best care possible.

And to achieve this goal, it’s going to take the entire ecosystem and every group that touches healthcare. Employers must invest in modern technology solutions, providers have to re-engage – and question – protocols and guidelines, insurers have to start reducing bureaucratic policies, and patients have to feel encouraged, enabled, and empowered to take ownership over their own health outcomes. 

While all that sounds difficult, we have do have a clear path forward: the technology that we need to help drive those changes, and bridge those gaps, already exist. The technology systems and HR platforms that employers need to invest in are already on the market, but the investment isn’t happening. The natural-language processing systems that analyze patient narratives to review against protocol? It already exists and is being used in fragment. The payment integrity systems to ensure payers, providers, and patients have transparent, fair pricing? Organizations have been relying on that information in pockets across the ecosystem for decades. 

We’re all talking about making the change, and it’s past time we move from conversation, to action. We have to take the existing technology, and push for better, more consistent, and more transparent adoption. We – collectively, we – need to make the investments that matter for the long-term and pay up to see the improvements that will ultimately deliver better outcomes for patients. 

After all, Patients don’t expect the system to be perfect but we all, including leaders in the space, do expect to see progress. And that progress? It’s time to speed up.  

About Kayt Leonard
Kayt Leonard is a Global Health Care and Life Sciences Strategic Advisor at SAS and leads Market Strategy and Engagement within the Health Care and Life Sciences Practice. Prior to joining SAS, Leonard worked across the industry with payers, providers, physicians, and pharmaceutical organizations. Leonard’s research in health equity, disparities, and global health care access has been recognized by the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, and the European Medicines Agency.

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