In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen providers, payers, and regulators work in partnership to rapidly shift operational models and set aside regulatory barriers and red tape to enable clinicians to practice at the top of their license, deploy virtual health technology, and marshal scarce resources.
Now, many in the industry are realizing that once we are on the other side of this crisis, we may never return to business as usual. We have a deep financial hole to climb out of, and ECG conservatively estimates that the financial impact of COVID-19, net of government stimulus, has been a collective reduction of approximately 5.6% of net income for all US health systems before losses from employed medical groups, as of this writing.
How we view and fund public health in the US, and how hospitals, health systems, and our clinical workforce position themselves for the future, may be quite different from the healthcare world as we knew it just a few months ago. Healthcare leaders need to be thinking about this “new normal” now to address two essential questions:
1. What are the implications for our organization in the immediate aftermath of this crisis?
2. How can we position our organization to thrive under these implications?
Implications That Will Shape Future Strategies
COVID-19 and the related economic issues will present myriad strategic challenges as well as opportunities for organizations. Among these, several major implications will reset C-suite and board agendas over the next 12 months. Seven strategies may provide a clearer path to thriving in this changing environment.
Published April 28, 2020