It’s easy to get bogged down in the bustle of managing your practice—attracting new patients, keeping up with the latest in medical research and working hard to keep your current patients healthy. However, it’s essential to remain on top of the latest trends in healthcare and stay ahead of the curve. Here are the 2018 trends in healthcare your practice needs to know about.
Tackling the Opioid Epidemic
The leading cause of death for adults under 50 in the United States is now opioid overdoses. This epidemic is far too large for a single party to solve it, so everyone involved in the healthcare industry including prescribers, payers and the pharmaceutical industry, needs to band together to reverse this alarming trend.
A Focus on the Patient Experience
You’re probably sick of hearing about the importance of improving the patient experience, but this trend in healthcare isn’t going anywhere any time soon. As the healthcare market becomes more crowded and competitive, the efforts to improve the efficiency of the entire healthcare experience will dramatically increase.
Medicare Advantage on the Rise
Experts are projecting that Medicare Advantage will expand to cover a whopping 21 million people over the course of 2018, which is a 5% increase over the previous year. Your practice might see more patients with Medicare Advantage plans as a result.
Don’t Leave Mental Health Behind
As the social stigma around mental healthcare starts to dissipate, more and more patients will start to seek assistance for mental health struggles. Your practice should make a serious effort to understand the link between behavioral and mental health and tailor exams, including physicals, to address more than just the basics of patient health. Questions addressing technology use and the associated anxiety and depression, for example, are good screening tools for addressing the overall health of patients.
Using Wearables to Get the Bigger Picture
The wearable devices that many patients use, like Fitbits and other activity trackers, will start to be utilized by healthcare providers. Studies have shown that the most frequent users of wearable devices are less healthy than average and more likely to be hospitalized for health issues. These wearables can provide doctors with important information on patients and give a bigger picture of a patient’s health.
Partner with Vetters Enterprises for Information About the Latest Trends in Healthcare
Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, private practice business support and revenue cycle optimization. We can perform in-depth assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.