With global health care spending expected to rise at a CAGR of 5 percent in 2019-23, it will likely present many opportunities for the sector. While there will be uncertainties, stakeholders can navigate them by factoring in historic and current drivers of change when strategizing for 2020 and beyond. Among these drivers are a growing and aging population, rising prevalence of chronic diseases, infrastructure investments, technological advancements, evolving care models, higher labor costs amidst workforce shortages, and the expansion of health care systems in developing markets. Health care systems need to work toward a future in which the collective focus shifts away from treatment, to prevention and early intervention. But, are stakeholders ready to respond to these trends and brace the smart health care delivery of the future? Deloitte's 2020 Global health care outlook takes a detailed look at the factors driving change in the sector and outlines suggestions that stakeholders can consider as they lay a solid foundation for the future.
For years, financial challenges have shadowed the world’s public and private health systems to varying degrees, and we expect the situation to persist in 2020. This will make “value” a watchword in health care payment reform. The entry of non-traditional players in the health care sector have the potential to both support and suppress incumbents’ efforts to grow revenue. Digital giants and digital-first health solution disruptors are demonstrating that there could be an easier and more user-friendly way to conduct health care transactions.
Patients are no longer passive participants in their health care, they are demanding transparency, convenience, access, and personalized products and services. Which elements of consumers’ experiences with today’s health care ecosystem matter the most to them?
Care model innovation is expected to manifest itself in numerous ways during 2020. Future-focused care models will likely leverage people, process, and technology to address evolving individual and group health needs.
Despite numerous challenges, there has been considerable progress in digital transformation of health care, which we expect will continue in 2020 and beyond. With digital finding traction, the health care systems will witness a shift in data management from storing data sets to extracting insights that can be monetized and support opportunity areas including population health management and value-based care. Amidst this growth, there are challenges to digitization in health care—posed by outdated legacy platforms, cost and complexity of new technologies, and constantly evolving business needs and scenarios—and cybersecurity will continue to remain a prime concern.
A widening demand-supply gap of skilled professionals is creating immediate challenges for public and private health systems, which may also have long-term, detrimental consequences in 2020 and beyond. The situation appears to be particularly acute within two pivotal medical professions—physicians and nurses. Will health care systems consider new methods to source, hire, train, and retain skilled workers to achieve their overall objective?
Review or download previous health care sector outlooks.
2019 global health care sector outlook
2018 global health care sector outlook
2017 global health care sector outlook
2016 global health care sector outlook