What Have We Learned? 5 Healthcare Predictions for 2021

We can safely call 2020, among other things, the “Year of Healthcare.” It was a year that put health and wellness front and center by being swallowed up by a global pandemic, shining a lot on underutilized resources, opportunities for innovation, improvable areas, and different ways to help patients. It was a year that forced the healthcare landscape to adapt and leverage technology more than ever in the dispensation of care. So, as the world awaits a group of COVID-19 vaccines, the makers of which boast promising success rates, what’s next for the healthcare industry, at large? Let’s take a look:

In a time when employee health and wellness is more important than ever to getting the economy back on track, companies will be taking more seriously than ever the pursuit of proper and proactive healthcare standards. Keeping staff safe and healthy will become a pillar of operation, whether it’s through more stringent infection-control measures, on-site quarantine quarters for essential personnel, or any other method. This will also include more testing and early-detection methods for larger companies, even as coronavirus vaccines become increasingly available.

Even before the pandemic devastated households and workplaces across the world, the healthcare landscape was working with individuals and employers to offer greater accessibility to mental health resources. Factors like depression from self-isolation and anxiety related to economic uncertainty, not to mention concern over their own health and that of our families’, have only exacerbated the need for more robust mental health treatment. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that over 40 percent of those surveyed reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health issue related to the pandemic.

In the absence of being able to physically connect with care providers for more than three months, telehealth emerged as a viable resource to help facilitate doctor-patient engagement, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Telehealth visits are expected to top one billion visits by the end of the year. During the first quarter of 2020 alone, the number of telehealth visits increased by 50 percent, compared with the same period in 2019. One ripple-effect of the telehealth revolution has been the exposure of disparities of digital healthcare resources in rural communities with decreased access to broadband, the coming year will likely, in at least some part, address these disparities.

When we think of artificial intelligence and robotics in healthcare, our imaginations are often limited to surgical interventions and prostheses. The reality is, however, that AI has been instrumental in record-collection to curate more familiar and individualized patient experiences. The data collected from our interactions with our healthcare providers can offer enormous insight into which interventions are needed the most in our daily and long-term health management. It will also help hospitals develop more intuitive predictive models to determine prioritization of care and will aid insurance companies in risk various types analyses.

The healthcare landscape will continue to develop implement medical and behavioral health interventions that treat the whole patient for comprehensive wellness. This will be born out through a number of initiatives, including “precision medicine” spearheaded by genomics, to digital health resources that engage patients in their lived environments and speak to their everyday experiences. The reality is that a patient’s heart failure is often directly related to their mental health, which dictates everyday behavior, and 2021 will continue to deliver more results that address these connections and similar correlations for comprehensive care.

GoMo Health remains at the forefront of innovation in the healthcare landscape, helping clinicians, care providers, and hospital systems to leverage digital therapeutics in the improvement of treatment outcomes, medication adherence, and patient involvement. As we approach the New Year and continue to navigate the aftermath of life in the time of COVID-19, we’re here to work with you so you can provide the best care and support for your patient population.