As someone who has been in the industry for over four decades, Joel Allison has seen a lot of healthcare trends come and go. Allison has been with Baylor Health Care System, now Baylor Scott and White Health, in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex for half of his career, and has served as Baylor’s CEO since 2000.
During an in-depth interview in 2012, I asked Allison to describe some of the major overall healthcare industry trends he sees within the communities and areas served by the Baylor system. He shared eleven trends he believes are currently occurring or will be seen in the near future:
- A trend toward larger healthcare organizations—significant consolidation and growth in scale.
- A mindset shift toward a different model, one of wellness and health as opposed to sickness; changing the ‘sick care’ model to a ‘health care’ model and focusing more on prevention and wellness.
- Implementation of the electric health record, data analytics, and big data. Asking, “How do we use big data?” And leveraging that information with the changes that are resulting from healthcare reform.
- A significant concern and emphasis on adequate healthcare access for everyone—especially for the large portion of the population that is uninsured—during a time in which provider reimbursement is being reduced.
- A trend toward more team-based, population health management and creating accountable care organizations or something similar. “Alignment is key. We are a clinical enterprise; so you have to have physician leadership, you have to have nurse leadership. It’s got to really move to team-based care.”
- Looking at more guidelines, standardizations, standard protocols and oversets. Trying to move from fragmentation to more of a pro-care system of care. Becoming more efficient, utilizing programs like LEAN, and trying to get to a point of breaking-even on Medicare.
- A trend of more employed physicians, “Because as they come out of their residencies they’re looking for more predictable time frames for their quality of life. It’s hard for them to get started in private practices, so they’re trending toward joining bigger groups, like physician groups or health systems. And I think this will help increase physician alignment.”
- More focus on the management of chronic illness, because of the high cost. “Chronic illness makes up about 5% of the population, but accounts for about 60% of the healthcare dollar. So the question is, ‘how do you manage chronic disease?’ And you have to focus on that. That’s where you use big data to do your data analytics. And you’re going to have to be clinically integrated and digitally connected.”
- More employers choosing to contract directly with narrow networks for cost savings.
- Increased transparency and accountability for quality outcomes and patient satisfaction. “For Baylor that is huge, to really look at finally being recognized and being paid for quality. Value versus quantity. We will see more transparency and that’s important.”
- Increased use of social media. “More and more of the marketing will be directly from business to consumer. And we’ve seen it already where there is more marketing to the consumer about what you ought to get. ‘Well, you ought to get this hip. Get this titanium one—you know that’s what Jack Nicklaus used, so you want that one.’ Pharmaceuticals are also putting on pressure by direct marketing… But the other piece on social media is people are talking to each other, asking, ‘Who do you go to? Which hospital, which doctor?’ I think social media is a major trend that we should pay attention to and utilize, because that’s where people are living now.”
Great insights from one of America’s most successful and influential healthcare leaders!