2022 Healthcare Trends - Whitepaper
2022 Healthcare Trends - Whitepaper
2022 Healthcare Trends - Whitepaper
6 Defining Areas
Bobbi Brown SVP, Professional Services Health Catalyst
Stephen Grossbart SVP, Professional Services Health Catalyst
With the New York Times summing up the predominate feeling • Integrated data unlocks the highest value use cases.
of 2021 as “languishing,” 2022 begins with a mix of uncertainty • Reusable data multiplies the data value.
and concern but also optimism. Healthcare and society at large • Transparent data builds trust, avoiding a “black box”
are eager for a positive post-pandemic future. Moving into this distrust of data.
next phase, 2022 healthcare trends in six areas stand to shape • Aggregated data enables benchmarking.
healthcare delivery and policy and patient and provider • Application data is highly valuable and should be
experience moving forward: health equity, patient safety, reusable.
staffing, care delivery, COVID 19, and payment and payers. • Data quality is foundational to trust and the use of data.
The above frameworks focus on understanding community On the organizational level, organizations can follow six action
needs—a key driver in health equity. And many organizations items around equity prioritization in 2022:
are making similar priorities. For example, more than 75
companies have signed the Digital Health Equity Pledge, an 1. Review the organization’s CHNA.
initiative by Executives for Health Innovation, to look as equity 2. Ensure goals are meaningful.
issues including accessibility, diversity, respect, and relevant 3. Identify partners.
public policy. 4. Evaluate value-based contracts and review the
measures tracked.
CMS has also joined healthcare leaders with a focus on health 5. Track metrics and measures that impact the
equity and is helping drive related trends. For example, in the community.
finalized 2022 Inpatient Perspective Payment rule, CMS asks 6. Report the above outcomes and learn from mistakes
for comments from stakeholders on the potential future and successes.
reporting on structural measures to assess hospital leadership
engagement in health equity performance data. In other #2: Care Delivery
words, CMS has informed stakeholders that they’re going to
assess how closely CEOs and other leaders look at health Significant shifts in care delivery in 2020 and 2021 will continue
equity and use it to drive and improve performance. CMS will into 2022. Notably, the healthcare model moved outside the
ultimately tie equity assessment into the payment systems that walls of the hospital and into virtual care settings, as facilities
drive healthcare business. met capacity during COVID-19. In 2020, CMS issued a waiver
for acute care at home, and as of fall 2021, approved 175
Furthermore, CMS has already positioned data to support hospitals to provide at-home acute care.
health equity prioritization. Like many payers, CMS supports
using Z codes. Payers use these ICD-10-CM codes to document The shift to at-home care appears to be gaining momentum.
social determinants of health data (e.g., housing, food For example, early in 2022, major healthcare organizations,
insecurity, and transportation) to understand community including Kaiser Permanente and Mayo Clinic, invested $110
needs and opportunities for change. million in a company called Medically Home, which facilitates
and coordinates treatment for high-acuity patients in their
homes.
#3: Patient Safety and Quality Looking forward into 2022, inflation is at 7 percent, the highest
in 40 years. Meanwhile, M&A revenue was up 25 percent in
COVID-19 dramatically impacted patient safety and quality. By 2021 from 2020, with more anticipated in 2022 Significant
the fourth quarter of 2020, the number of hospital-acquired organizations, such as, Oracle, Cerner, and HCA are acquiring
infections had increased—in particular central line-associated new entities while others are merging to accommodate new
bloodstream infection (up 47 percent), catheter associated care delivery models, such as the growth in ambulatory
urinary tract infections (up almost 19 percent), and notable surgery.
rises in ventilator-associated events, MRSA, and others.
The above increases make sense, as patients have been sicker Hospital operating margins fell in 2021, with more losses
during the pandemic, with more people on central lines, predicted in 2022, while the CARES Act provided some relief to
catheters, and ventilators. Concurrently, volumes have hospitals between 2020 and 2021—at least $70 billion. In
overwhelmed staff and lowered clinician-to-patient ratios. And Figure 2, from the Kaufman Hall December 2021 National
with many people avoiding routine care, preventive Hospital Flash Report, the yellow bar shows operating margin
appointments, such as cancer screenings, have declined. For with CARES Act dollars, and the blue bar is without CARES
example, breast cancer screening was down almost 91 percent money. As the graph shows, margins are coming back but
from 2019 to 2020. To what extent COVID-19 undermined haven’t yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
cancer prevention in 2020 remains to be seen but will likely
impact healthcare in 2022.
Moving into 2022, healthcare can take the following actions to At the same time, demand for healthcare workers is projected
navigate COVID-19’s ongoing impact: to grow by 45 percent between 2020 and 2030, forcing
healthcare to evaluate its workforce supply strategy.
1. Take a proactive approach to revenue cycle Organizations must look closely at data-driven labor
management and cost (know true costs to provide management to predict and manage labor needs and improve
services). workforce experience.
2. Perform financial forecasts on shorter time frame, with
the ability for rolling forecasts as the environment Along with labor management, actions organizations can take
changes. around staffing in 2022 include the following:
3. Perform a capital allocation review.
4. Combine clinical and financial outcomes. 1. Listen to workforce needs and concerns.
5. Double down on patient safety. 2. Share and communicate the data.
3. Consider what flexibility options for the workforce (e.g.,
schedules, roles, care models).
4. Prioritize workforce retention (including address
burnout and ensuring team members feel valued).
Additional Reading
Would you like to learn more about this topic? Here are some
Figure 3: Five strategic objectives around payment and payer. articles we suggest:
With healthcare costs remaining high, leaders can anticipate Value-Based Purchasing 2020: A 10-Year Progress Report
that CMS will continue or expand its review of data and linkage
to quality-based payments. CMS will continue down the path
towards value-based care, increased affordability, and reduced
spending. A notable shift for 2022 will embedding health
equity in these efforts, per the strategic objectives in Figure 3.