Relia Healthcare's 2023 Watch List

Each new year brings new watch lists, predictions, and forecasts for the upcoming year, no matter the industry. This year we are sharing some interesting trends from 2022 that may shape the healthcare industry into 2023. 

The pandemic brought tremendous shifts in workforce movement and growth, it witnessed formal development programs canceled or indefinitely postponed, and care delivery shifted in unprecedented ways. Leaders responded to crises with strategies and recovery plans with real-time firestorms that forced trial-by-fire opportunities. In some cases, a leader’s reaction was career-limiting. The risk of failure will be no less formidable in 2023.

Moving into the new year, we are watching five noteworthy trends impacting how healthcare leaders react, strategize, and build teams in 2023. 

Here’s what has captured our attention:

1. Workforce Burnout and Fatigue 

Younger employees recently responded to a survey, with 25% saying their mental health has suffered over the last three years. However, only 26% of those expressing issues say they feel comfortable discussing their concerns with colleagues. In addition, “79% of respondents reported that their "burnout" began before the pandemic. Whether driven by low wages, long hours, lack of salaried advancement opportunities, or a pre-existing shortage of workers – those stressors were amplified, thereby escalating a vicious cycle of healthcare worker recession. “A recent survey reported that 18% of healthcare workers have quit their jobs since mid-February 2021, with an additional 12% laid off during that same time. Of those healthcare workers who stayed, 19% report they considered leaving the healthcare profession, and 12% considered leaving for another role in the healthcare industry,“ according to Entrepreneur magazine.

Job burnout and mental health struggles have been broadly discussed in the workplace. While the focus has been on what can be done for those suffering from burnout to retain qualified employees, not enough has been done at the specific work sites to resolve what has caused burnout in the first place. The burnout trend, though, is prompting organizations to provide services for those experiencing burnout. 

Moving forward, employers must address the causes of burnout by analyzing the match between the employee and their role, workload demands vs. resources, levels of autonomy, reward systems, workplace environment, organizational equitable treatment, the influence of direct supervisors, and providing meaning in the work one does. What the ergonomics trend did for office environmental comfort in previous decades, psychological and social studies can do for present times to move an organization toward a healthy work culture in which burnout can be prevented, not just treated. 

2. Disengagement, Quiet Quitting, and Quiet Firing

In our recent article, A Leader's Response to Quiet Quitting, we looked at the newly-coined phenomenon of “quiet quitting.” While this is not a new business trend or exclusive to a single generation, it has garnered renewed attention in recent months. The goal is to balance life and work by setting self-imposed boundaries around the workload an employee is willing to do in the office and a renewed push to not bring work home once they leave. To do so, employees quietly quit giving discretionary energy at the workplace. The equally renewed trend of quiet firing, or a manager’s efforts to encourage an employee to quit their job of the employee's own volition, has also impacted the current healthcare staffing crisis. In both cases, the underlying issue that requires attention is managing the employee/supervisor relationship. Employees disengage largely due to a negative relationship with their direct supervisor. 

While organizations have reduced the hours expected from their full-time employees without reducing pay or benefits and implemented shorter workweeks to stem the burnout rates, the problem of mid-level management practices that do not engage employees will continue to be a serious challenge in 2023. And disengaged healthcare employees are a risk to quality and safety.

3. The Rise of Equitable Care

 “For too long, our reproductive healthcare has been inaccessible and inequitable, particularly for our Black, brown, and other marginalized neighbors,” U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.  

Maternity care is one of the more blatant arenas for inequitable care. While most births occur in hospitals, few of those are led by people of color, and diverse families are not receiving or seeking prenatal care at the same rate as some other communities. Inequality of care and care delivery is an issue across the healthcare divisions and will continue to be at the forefront of healthcare concerns as we move into 2023.

While some organizations look to bridge this gap with diverse providers providing care in previously underserved communities, others look at virtual and home care as possible options to improve care. While these two options may provide more affordable options to a broader population, consideration must be given to the availability of the needed technology within these communities, assistance, and support for home healthcare, space available in the home for home healthcare equipment, consistency of care and medication delivery at home, and the ability to use at-home technologies. 

4. Disruption From The Retail Sector

Non-traditional providers are deploying innovative solutions to improve broad access to healthcare with improved pricing transparency, especially in underserved and under-resourced communities. This is in response to a traditional healthcare system that has become antiquated and difficult to navigate for political, historical, and economic reasons. Non-traditional providers like Amazon, CVS, and Google will continue to secure portions of the  Primary Care Physician (PCP) market. The loss of PCP networks will Increase pressures on traditional health systems, continuing financial losses, rising expenses, staffing struggles, and supply chain disruptions. Data will continue to be an innovating force used by non-traditional providers. For example, Apple is building a health data depository like no other by using bio-monitoring apps aimed at entering the health insurance market thereby securing its position as a wholesale buyer of health services. 

5. Rising Cost of Health Insurance Coverage for Employers 

“Health insurance premiums and drug costs will rise a bit more than usual next year. Ed Kaplan, senior vice president of The Segal Group, expects health insurance premiums to pick up 7% to 8% in 2023, slightly more than the 6% average yearly increase seen over the past several years. The main difference with previous years will be higher prescription drug costs, which will jump 10%, the highest in the past decade.” KiplingerReport 

Pharmaceutical costs are rising at unprecedented rates. Employers must look for cost-effective options. Employers continue to provide High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP) along with HRAs while shopping for better insurance options. While the long-term strategy of achieving a healthy workforce (either through programs or incentives or both) is desired, the payoff has not been as expected.

One study shows 1% of an employer’s plan membership drives 40% of their costs. Employers will continue to seek programs and providers who demonstrate success in managing chronic conditions. For the provider with the ability to embrace an innovative approach, many financial opportunities still exist in the rising cost of insurance.

Conclusion

These are but a few 2023 trends to watch, and those that did not make the top five are not any less concerning. Among those that didn’t make our list include the continued scrutiny of Medicare Advantage billing practices, private equity and venture capital investments in startups, and declining leadership effectiveness trends. Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and other technologies are expected to move into every area of healthcare creating other opportunities or challenges.  

As we move into the new year, we will continue to watch these trends for new approaches, improved processes, or perhaps a bit of both. But, in the face of these trends, pursuing high-reliability practices and effective leadership will be critical to success. As always, if we can be of assistance to you and your team in these areas, please let us know. You can contact us here.