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Healthcare organizations are setting their priorities for 2025, with 52.8% of hospital and health system executives identifying patient access, throughput and capacity as their top priority.
According to a report Strategies to deliver value-driven experiences are seen as key to building patient loyalty and maximizing impact, according to a recent survey from Vizient and its subsidiary Kaufman Hall.
Yelena Bouaziz, Chief Intelligence Officer at Vizient, explained that health IT solutions are essential to transforming patient access and fostering a transparent and efficient healthcare system.
“Success depends on understanding diverse patient needs and tailoring solutions accordingly, leveraging virtual health options, telehealth capabilities and digital tools such as patient portals, online scheduling and health tracking apps,” she said.
She highlighted innovations, including geo-mapping and social determinants data, to drive targeted strategies such as mobile clinics for underserved areas.
Bouaziz added streamlined operations — aided by length of stay optimization, procedure planning and real-time bed management – to increase capacity without compromising quality.
At the same time, investments in advanced sectors analytical and AI, which promise to optimize patient care by improving decision-making, identifying care gaps, managing high-risk patients, and streamlining remote testing and care, are also taking of magnitude.
“AI further improves efficiency by simulating operational changes, analyzing feedback and automating administrative tasks to maximize resource utilization,” Bouaziz said.
Pharmaceutical innovation remains another key area, with outpatient care pharmacy spending is growing 52% faster than total outpatient care spending.
Steven Lucio, senior director of pharmaceutical solutions at Vizient, said that while specialty pharmaceuticals are extremely expensive, cell and gene therapy drugs are “extraordinarily” expensive (meaning they cost several million dollars). dollars).
They are so expensive that patients, providers, and payers try to hold manufacturers accountable for promised long-term results (like curing sickle cell disease, allowing a muscular dystrophy patient to walk).
“Right now, it is incredibly difficult to collect long-term outcome data that would allow us to identify which of these expensive drugs are actually cost-effective,” he explained.
As a result, many organizations are trying to find ways to capture and integrate data from disparate sources to provide insight into the patient journey.
“Moving from fracturing disparate systems to a way where we can look at a patient longitudinally is an important goal for informatics,” Lucio said.
The survey indicated that Medicare Advantage contracts present additional challenges for providers, including discharge delays and restrictive authorizations.
This is leading providers to reevaluate their business models to address cost pressures and payer behaviors while striving to optimize refund structures and improve patient outcomes.
Bill Ringwood, associate director, consulting, Sg2, a Vizient company, said providers are still sorting out IT-related strategies to fit Medicare Advantage contracts.
Some are considering using payer platforms to electronically exchange clinical data to reduce requests for additional documentation.
“However,” Ringwood said, “providers should carefully consider this approach to ensure they get something valuable in return, such as improved contract terms that align with their payer strategy.”